Of Road Trips and Romance Novels
by csidle
Summary: It's summer vacation and all Haruhi wants to do is read her latest romance novel. But when the Host Club barges in and drags her on a tour bus road trip, she's all but thrilled. Will Haruhi ever finish her book, or will someone else finish it first? Will Haruhi start living her own romance novel, or will the trip have the Hosts crashing and burning? And where are they going anyway?
1. Of Road Trips and Office Assistants

**Edited by the wonderful... TheLingeringWolf... Who was kind enough to save you dear readers from my horrid spelling!**

**Authors Note: *Stands up* Hi my name is csidle, and I'm the author of _Of Road Trips and Romance Novels_...**

**WOW... that sounded like the beginning of a bad AA meeting... O.o... anywho... Welcome to my first (posted) fanfic. I promise to keep this short so may I just say...**

**1) I don't own OHSHC... if I did I wouldn't have as many college loans to pay off...**

**2) All reviews are welcomed and appreciated**

**3) Please feel free to correct and criticizes to your little hearts content... I only want to get better...**

**4) ENJOY THE STORY!**

**NOTE : Rating may Change in future chapters**

* * *

**OF ROAD TRIPS AND ROMANCE NOVELS**

**CHAPTER 1: Of Road Trips and Office Assistants **

* * *

_He was restless. _

_Linn Katsuo, owner of one of the largest law firms in Tokyo, was, in general, a very calm, collect, and patient man. Today, however, it seemed like with each second that passed, his patients frayed just that much more. He checked the time on his computer again._

**_She's late…_**

_Giving up on his vigilant watch for his new office assistant, that should have been there an hour ago; he decided to partake in some of the offices less than delightful coffee in the staff room._

_The first steps on his quest for coffee, as steady as they were, had neither prepared him for the projectile flying through the door strait at him, nor had it prepared him for the less then graceful crash that happened seconds later. _

_From his new found residence on the floor, he found himself looking down at slightly frazzled chestnut brown hair._

**_This must be her…_**

_Once she regained her bearings, she looked up at him and his mouth went dry. He stood quickly and offered his hand to her. Katsuo chose to ignore the rather pleasant tingling that traveled up his arm in reaction to her petite hand._

_When she withdrew her hand from his, she extended it again, flustered, but still determined to salvage her fist impression on her new boss._

_"It's a pleasure to meet you Linn-Sama." She shook his hand with steadfast determination, "My name is Oshiro Mariko…"_

* * *

Knock… knock… knock…

_Ignore them and maybe they will leave…_

Wishful thinking she knew, but it was worth a shot. Fujioka Haruhi had just settled down for a quiet afternoon of reading her latest romance novel when she was rudely disturbed.

Knock… knock…knock…

Okay, her only romance novel. She had found it a while back while cleaning her eccentric father's room and between chores, school, homework, Host Club, and being dragged around by said hosts, she had only read a little.

Knock… knock… knock…

It wasn't that she even liked this kind of thing. It was merely curiosity that drove her to picking up the small cream-colored paperback and definitely NOT the fact that the half-naked man pictured on the front cover reminded her of a certain host… *cough*… Mori… *cough*… At least, that is what she had been telling herself.

Knock… knock… knock…

_Damn rich bastards…_

Slamming down her book, she stomped over to the door and yanked it open.

"WHAT THE HE―AHHH"

"HARU-CHAN!"

Haruhi threw her arms open just in time to catch the small blonde senior hurtling toward her. With the speed and momentum he came flying at her with, he slammed her into a soft warm object that had magically appeared behind her; catching her before she could fall backwards onto the floor.

"Mitsukuni… be careful," said the previously mentioned soft warm object, which turned out to be Mori when Haruhi got her bearings enough to look. Honey looked down cutely, smiling at Haruhi and sliding out of her arms to pick up Usa-chan who was totally discarded and forgotten upon seeing the small apartment door open.

Haruhi smiled up at Mori, "Thanks Mori-sempai."

Everyone (minus Kyoya who was, of course, completing a financial report), had their eyes trained on Haruhi, checking to make sure she was not in the least bit hurt by the impact, missed the light blush that was blooming on Mori's cheeks as he held the slightly still in shock Haruhi.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Karou asked while throwing an arm over her shoulders.

"If you're not, we can kiss it better," Hikaru purred as he threw his arm around her waist, effectively taking her away from Mori and into the clutches of their mischievous ways.

Mori clenched his fists. He, for a reason unknown to him, liked the way she had felt in his arms, and did not like her being snatched away from him so easily.

"YOU TWO DEVILS! UNHAND MY LITTLE GIRL!" Tamaki yelled, yanking her into his arms and spinning her around gracefully outside her door way and nearly swinging her into Kyoya's laptop.

"I... CAN'T... BREATH... SENPAI!"

Mori unconsciously fisted his hands tighter still, proceeding to turn them white from the pressure he was exerting. His protective instincts were being stretched thin in the need to lash out and protect her.

"What took my darling daughter so long to answer the door for her daddy?"

_I knew you were out there…_

"Tamaki, put Haruhi down."

_Wow the Shadow King is actually going to help me out here?_

Tamaki quit spinning her but did not set Haruhi down. He looked at Kyoya expectedly. Closing his laptop, Kyoya stood from where he was leaning against the railing.

"You nearly swung her into my laptop… we would not want to have that added to her debt as well, would we?"

_Of course not…_

Tamaki reluctantly put Haruhi back on her own two feet.

"Speaking of which, what took you so long to get to the door Haruhi?" The evil glare on his glasses from a passing car made Haruhi flinch.

_Again, you all were out there…_

"I was reading," Haruhi stated, looking longingly over to her mangled book that was discarded on the floor where she had slung it just minutes earlier.

"Reading on summer break? Don't you do enough of that during school?" Hikaru asked while trying to look over her shoulder to see what could possibly be worth reading without having to be forced to.

"You do know some people do read for fun?" Haruhi replied with snark. She had managed to bar the door so no one could enter… as if she could stop them… as well as preventing them from seeing the book. That was the last thing she needed, a crazy group of hosts tormenting her about her reading material… or the cover…

"They only read because they have nothing else to do," Karou said with a grin, even though he too enjoyed reading just for fun.

"Plus, you won't need it where we're going!" chimed in Hikaru.

_Oh Lord… I'm scared to ask…_

"And that would be where, exactly?" Haruhi asked with great trepidation.

"ROAD TRIP!" Tamaki, the twins, and Honey yelled all at once. She felt a headache coming on at the noise.

"NO WAY IN HELL AM I GOING ON A ROAD TRIP WITH YOU MORONS!"

"But… but… we got a bus and everything…" Tamaki, close to tears now, whimpered mournfully.

Haruhi ventured over to the rail and, sure enough, saw a big tour bus in Ouran Academy purple and black with OHSHC in big fancy letters down the side. The door was just icing on the cake with bright red roses elegantly painted along its rim.

"We had it custom made just for our summer road trip…" wailed Tamaki from the corner where the railing met with the wall.

_Damn rich bastards…_

"Senpai, quit growing mushrooms in my building please," Haruhi, getting very frustrated with the whole situation, just looked in horror at the bus and the mass of people who were congregating around it. Turning to Kyoya, she stated with the utmost direct and authoritative posture she could manage and said very simply, "I'm not going."

"IF MY DAUGHTER ISN'T GOING THEN I'M NOT GOING!" Tamaki screamed, jumping out of his mushroom infested corner.

"If boss isn't going, then …" Hikaru started.

"…we're not going," Karou finished. After all, who were they going to mess with if Tono wasn't with them?

"Takashi… I don't really want to go if Haruhi and the others aren't going."  
Honey looked up at Mori with tearful eyes while hugging Usa-chan close. Even without a word from Mori, everyone knew that if Honey didn't go, then Mori wouldn't go.

"Well then, we wasted all that money on the custom van," Kyoya started. "I'm afraid I'll have to add the cost to your quickly growing tab."  
Haruhi shuddered; she didn't even want to think about what else was going to be added. "B-But dad…"

Kyoya cut her off, "He already knows and said to tell you to have a good time," he almost seemed bored having to report this bit of information.

"B-But clothes…"

"He packed you a bag and dropped it off this morning. It's on the bus."  
Kyoya was getting really agitated by this whole affair, and his temper was starting to show as his voice got tighter and tighter.

Haruhi, by this point, knew she had no choice.

"Fine…" she uttered in complete and agonizing defeat, and was dragged against her will down to the bus by the twins with Tamaki running after them yelling and Honey bouncing with Usa-chan in tow behind him. Kyoya, walking dignified as always followed, clutching his laptop in one hand and rubbing away a headache with the other.

While everyone made their way down do the bus, Mori stepped into the small apartment and scooped up Haruhi's book, paying no attention to the cover or content. He locked the door and pulled it closed behind him, then jogged to catch up to the others who were now being directed into the bus by a very exasperated Kyoya.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review!**

**OK... Character names... In case you weren't one of my lovely readers that have come back to reread the new edition...**

**Linn Katsuo- Names means v****ictorious, heroic man**

******Oshiro Mariko- Name means true village child**


	2. Of Interruptions and Rabbits

**This is csidle's Beta, TheLingeringWolf. Csidle does not own _Ouran High School Host Club (OHSHC) or its characters. She also does not own Apple's product, the __iPod_. Steve Jobs owned it before his tragic death. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Of Road Trips and Romance Novels**

**Chapter 2: Of Interruptions and Rabbits**

* * *

_Katsuo was in a meeting leaving Mariko in the palatial office with nothing to do. _

_She was hired for exactly one reason and one reason only: She was prompt. Minus her first day, she had showed up to work at least a half hour early and stayed usually an hour late. She was proud of her work habit, though it often left her with too much time on her hands._

_"Oshiro Mariko?" _

_She looked up from her game of solitaire to see a handsome young man with shaggy blond hair standing in the door way._

_"Yes?" _

_He bounded over to her desk talking a mile a minute._

_"Hi! So your Katsuo's new assistant! You're prettier than his last one!"_

_She blushed, but he didn't seem to notice._

_"I'm Kameko Mitsu; I'm the general assistant that relays information to and from big dogs in corporate meetings to their staff when they can't leave or call from the meeting. There are ALWAYS meetings going on so I better get back!"_

_The young blond had made it back to the threshold of the door when he remembered the reason for his impromptu visit. _

_"OH! Katsuo said to check your email. He sent you a list of errands! BYE!"_

_Had he taken one breath since he had been talking to her? She didn't think so. She opened her email and read off some mundane things, including lunch, which would require her to go by car. As she reached for her purse and keys, however, a hyperactive voice came from the hallway._

_"Katsuo sent for you a car, its waiting outside!"_

_Shrugging she slung her purse over her shoulder and headed to the front of the building. While heading down the elevator she thought of her new acquaintance. Mariko assumed he was quite close to Linn-san, being on a first name bases and all. She couldn't suppress the light smile that pulled on her lips thinking about the hyper young man. _

**_He bounced like a rabbit…_**

_As she exited the building, she was greeted by a rather excitable man who escorted and helped her into the back of a large limo. As she snuggled down into the plush leather seats then realized that she could really get used to this._

* * *

_Why? Why me? Why did I get dragged…_

"Oh… wow!" She was stunned. If the outside of the bus was impressive, the inside was astonishing. From its deep cherry hard wood floor to its black leather sofas, with the seat-belts built in, it was nothing short of breathtaking. In all honesty it probably could have been pulled off as a touring bus gone RV. Haruhi stared in shock.

"It has a mini bar stocked with soda, a fridge full of cake to keep Honey-Sempia well indulged and other snacks for everyone else," Kyoya started, seeing her with her mouth still open as she turned in slow circles trying to take everything in.

___Damn rich bastards… Wait… I wonder if they have fancy tuna…_

"There's also a full bathroom and the couches turn into beds. However, we have a reservation at Shirahone Onsen, a hot springs in the Japanese Alps so we'll be staying in their hotel tonight."

As she stared longingly at the fridge, a thought struck her. Glancing at everyone on the bus she started a mental head count.

___Tamaki: Growing mushrooms in the corner… typical_

___Hikaru: Flipping through songs on his iPod while lounging on one of the love seats… normal_

___Karou: Sketching in his note book… I hope he's not designing girly clothes for me again…_

___Honey: Eating cake with Usa-chan… nothing out of the ordinary there…_

___Kyoya: Looking amused at something in his black agenda… not good… but, hey… he's not adding to my debt so who cares…_

___And I make six… who's missing?_

Feeling a warm calming feeling envelope her, she turned to see Mori stroll onto the bus.

___Ah… how could I forget him? So we're all here … wait… who's going to drive this thing?_

"Kyoya…" she started. When his eyes didn't lift from his laptop that was perched precariously on his knee while he lounged on yet another sofa, she just continued, sure that he was listening whether he showed it or not. "… where's the driver?"

"Well… we hired a driver…" Hikaru stated, cutting Kyoya off… not that he minded, that just meant he could get some more work in without having to explain irrelevant, in his mind, things to her.

"… She couldn't make it due to some unexpected 'circumstances'…" Karou finished, eyeing his brother and attempting to keep a straight face.

_____She?_

* * *

_"Karou, hurry up!"_

_"Geez, Hikaru why don't you slow down!"_

_"Are you sure this will work? I really don't want some old guy coming with us," Hikaru asked, looking expectedly at his co-conspirator while leaning up against the door of their custom summer break tour bus. He knew that the hired driver would be the only person on the bus for a time because the company had said the bus would come pick each of them up from their houses separately._

_"Yeah, I'm sure!" Karou said, exhausted from hauling the small light blue tub from their limo. He gently poured the contents onto the steps leading inside the bus._

___"Now Helga, Henry…" Hikaru started while pointing at the occupants in the door._

___"We want you two to give him a good scare," Karou finished, smiling down at his precious pets._

___"Come on, someone's coming," Hikaru loudly whispered while dragging Karou behind another bus._

___The unmistakable click of heels on pavement came gradually closer and with it the higher pitch of a female voice, distraught, and not at all happy with her latest assignment._

___"Sam, you can't be serious… Do you really think it's smart to send me as a chuffer for seven high school boys?... Yes, I know they're in a host club and no, that doesn't help matters… Yes… Yes… Fine!"_

___Seeing the tall, thin, and downright gorgeous female in her company logoed navy blue dress heading toward the OHSHC bus, the boys looked at each other with wide eyes._

___"NOOOOOOOO!"_

___Needless to say, Kyoya was not at all happy with the fact that the chuffer company had called to inform him that the one and only available chuffer quit. Getting the phone call at 5 AM didn't help matters either. When he inquired why she quit, Kyoya just looked at his phone in disbelief._

___"What!"_

* * *

_Circumstances…? Wait, do I even WANT to know? From the look on their faces… no…_

When Hikaru began to explain she raised her hand to stop him. "I don't even want to kno―" Haruhi was interrupted by a high pitch "girly" yell. Tamaki was standing in the doorway to the little but no less grand bathroom, pointing at some unseen demon.

"Sempai?" she quietly walked up behind him, "What is it?"

_Damn… everything is marble…_

"S-S-S-SNAKE!"

Following his finger, she looked in the gold rimmed marble sink to see an albino python curled up in a tight ball. Backing up relatively quickly caused her to trip on the furry flax fur carpet.

"G-GUYS!"

They all had ignored Tamaki's yell, but when Haruhi called they were all there in a second.

"There you are, Helga!" Hikaru rushed forward and coddled the python. "Did that big, mean man scare you?"

While Hikaru tormented Tamaki with Karou cheering him on, Mori walked over to a still petrified Haruhi. Kneeling down he affectionately rubbed her head.

"It's gone…"

Coming out of her stupor, she lightly blushed and looked up at him.  
"I'm not crazy about snakes."

"Neither is Tamaki from the looks of it…"

Honey, who had appeared over Mori's shoulder looked down at her. From her seat on the floor she realized just how close she and Mori were, with him leaning slightly over her.

_Just like in my book…_

Honey looked at his two best friends and smiled. Neither had heard his comment, being too caught up staring into each other's eyes. He just shrugged and left the two for the moment to skip over and eat more cake, all the while evil matchmaking schemes hopped around like bunnies in his cute blonde head.

"Sorry for interrupting…"

Both teens jumped apart, blushes littering their faces. Kyoya shook his head, looking at them and braved a glance at Honey who was grinning like a kid on Christmas, or Honey on Christmas. With a very slight upturn he signalled Honey that he was in agreement.

"Mori-Sempai," Kyoya turned his attention to the senior kneeling on the floor. "I know we all agreed the order in which we were going to drive, however, Tamaki is…," he shook his head at the three morons. "occupied… and I really need to finish this report."

Mori, being his usual silent self, nodded and stood. Before he left to the front of the bus though, he extended a hand to Haruhi. When she placed her hand in his she even redder.

"T-Thank you, Sempai."

With a brief nod, Mori hurried to the front of the bus and settled in the driver seat. When he sat down, however, he felt the weight of Haruhi's book still in his pocket. He was about to get up and hand it to her when her smiling face in the rear view mirror caught his eye. Everyone, for the most part, had settled down. Helga was safely put up far away from both Tamaki and Haruhi and the latter was happily chatting away with Honey. So with a little grin on his face he said to himself,

_I'll give it to her later…_

* * *

**And We're Off!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Please review!**

**_Character names_**

**_Kameko Mitsu- (Katsuo's brother-in-law and Company messenger) Kameko meaning superior child and Mitsu meaning honey_**


	3. Of Tired Bosses and Sleepy Drivers

**Edited by TheLingeringWolf**

**Authors Note: Ok so I didn't have a disclaimer last chapter so might as well stick one in this time.**

**Disclaimer: I csidle… Don't own didally squat… big surprise… **

**Anyway THANK YOU to all who have reviewed! I really appreciate it…**

**I know I promised Hotel Rooms, Hot Springs, and Romance Novels... I'M SORRY... I was trying to make the Hot Springs chapter really good because you all helped so much on that one... this was part of it so instead of keeping you all waiting while i finish working out the kinks I'm just posting this half of the chapter and will finish up the other half by this afternoon... It was too long anyway... but still... I'M SORRY!  
**

**Read, Review, and Enjoy**

**NOTE: Rating may go up in future chapters**

* * *

**OF ROAD TRIPS AND ROMANCE NOVELS**

**CHAPTER 3: Of Tired Bosses and Sleepy Drivers**

* * *

_Mariko tiptoed around his desk. Leaning in close, she slipped the file she needed gently from beneath his head. He grumbled before his soft snores sounded once more. She flopped in her chair letting out a sigh of relief._

_He should have left hours ago._

_She should have not been back till the next morning._

_Having still been in the area after a less then eventful evening of watching her young niece while her sister and brother-in-law were out on a self-proclaimed "date-night"; she desperately wanted to go home and rest. _

_When Katumi finally went to bed, Mariko sat down to read over her files and write summaries of the cases for Katsuo._

_"Crap!" _

_She paused quickly scanned for the sneaky child. Not seeing her, Mariko relaxed._

**_I'll just run back by the office since it's on the way home…_**

_She was just going to run in, grab the file, and leave. She wasn't expecting to find her boss sleeping at his desk or the file she needed under his head._

_Replaying the night's events in her head while she calmed her breathing she lazily slid her eyes over the sleeping man. He was quite handsome, awake or asleep, but he looked less stressed as soft quiet snores emitted from his very attractive lips._

_She shook her head. Standing up she grabbed his coat and threw it over him and turned off the little desk lamb that eliminated his face._

_Smiling, she turned and left; tiptoeing as to not wake her sleeping boss._

* * *

After driving for five hours straight Mori was starting to get tired and after slamming on the breaks, hard, at more than a couple of red lights, the other hosts knew it too.

"Hey… Mori-sempai?" Kyoya asked after having his precious laptop, one again, torn from his hands and onto the bus's floor. "Would you like someone else to drive for a while?"

It wasn't the first time someone ventured to ask him if he needed a break; however, the reply was the same every time: a gentle shake of the head 'no' then back to driving. Finally, much to the extreme relief of everyone on board, fate intervened and they pulled in to the nearest gas station.

Tamaki was off the bus before Mori had even put it in park.

"So why wouldn't he just go to the bathroom on the bus again?" Karou asked his evil doppelganger as they both strolled off the bus behind Kyoya, who was concentrated on one thing and one thing only: black coffee.

Hikaru, with a perfectly straight face that couldn't quite hide the mischief in his eyes, threw an arm over his twins shoulder and said, "He was scared that Helga would weasel out from her crate that, as you know, we placed in the tub and sneak up behind him and bite his―"

"HIKARU!" Haruhi put her hands over Honey's ears while she stared down the twins, who just shrugged and strolled inside, giggling the whole way.

"Haru-chan?" Honey looked at her with tears in his eyes. "Can you help me please?"

She stepped back on the bus and saw Mori completely passed out with his head square in the middle of the steering wheel.

_Why does he do this to himself?_

"I'm too small to get him to the couch…"

Haruhi just looked at Mori and pictured herself pushing a conscious Mori onto the black leather sofa and―

_Where did that come from?_

Haruhi shook her head to clear the image of a very alluring scene from her mind.

"Um, Honey-sempai… I don't think I can't lift him either… Have you tried waking him up?"

Honey nodded his head and sniffled some more.

Haruhi shook her head as she leaned down by Mori's ear. She couldn't contain her giggles when her breath made him swat at the air, grumble, and turn his head to protect his ear. As he turned his head she realized she was going to have to get closer to his other ear so she wouldn't startle him by yelling and that involved leaning over him. Gently as she could she placed her hand on his shoulder and leaned over him on her tip toes. From where her hand rested she could feel his soft silky hair against her hand and had the strange urge to run her fingers through it.

"Mori-sempai, it's time to wake up..."

With a lot of grumbling the figure groggily awoke and turned toward Haruhi, who had not moved back from her perch over him. They were staring at each other nose to nose and it took a moment for the two to realize just how close they were, much to the amusement of Honey who was grinning ear to ear.

After a very long moment of staring into each other's eyes, two jumped apart and blushed deep red and turned their gazes from each other, muttering apologizes the whole time.

Honey, basking in his cousin and best friend's embarrassment, helped his cousin to the couch and made him lay down while Haruhi retrieved a light blanket to throw over him. Honey then tucked Usa-chan under the already dozing Mori's arm and patted the younger boy on the head, then turned to Haruhi.

"Takashi hasn't been sleeping well. That's probably why he's become such a fan of commoner's coffee. Can you get him a cup while I find him a pillow, please?"

By this time the little senior was all sniffily again and was clinging to Haruhi's shirt. Haruhi's maternal instincts were in full swing after tending to Honey all day. She kneeled down to wipe the tears that were threatening to fall.

"Of course I can and tell you what; I'll get you some ice cream too."

Of course this cheered Honey up to the point that little pink flowers bloomed all around him. Haruhi shook her head good naturedly and exited the bus.

When she returned to the bus she found that not only had Kyoya taken up the roll as chauffeur, and looked about ready to pass out, but the only seat left was by a completely knocked out Mori.

She handed Mori's coffee to Kyoya who, she was sure, had drank at least five cups already and was sure would need a bathroom break in the near future. Haruhi shook her head and went to take her seat.

"Did you get ice cream?" Honey asked while bouncing in his seat by Mori's feet.

"Yep, I got strawberry."

She reached over Mori's prone body to hand an already sugar high Honey the ice cream bar. When she leaned over however her thigh came into contact with Mori's head and he reflexively latched onto his new pillow. All Haruhi could do was look down in shock at the head that had weaselled its way into her lap and the arm that was tucked around her leg.

"W-W-WHAT!" Tamaki screamed from the sight of Mori in his "daughter's" lap. "MOTHER, OUR NEIGHBOR IS HARASSING OUR DAUGHTER!"

"... And?"

"MOTHER!"

"Neighbor?" Hikaru turned to Karou and asked. He was trying to concentrate on what Tamaki had said versus the jealousy taking over him at knowing that it was Mori and not him that was close to his toy.

Karou patted his brother's leg. "We've been over this before with him. In Tono's mind he's father, Kyoya's mother, Haruhi is his daughter, though we know that he's delusional on that part―"

"AM NOT!"

"Are too... he thinks we're her brothers and Honey-sempai and Mori-sempai are our neighbors," Karou finished with a breathless sigh. "We're all just one big happy family..."

He stole a glance at the couch Haruhi, Honey, and Mori were sitting/laying on.

Haruhi had taken up the role of playing pillow well. She ran her fingers through Mori's hair as he pressed his face into her stomach and wrapped his other arm around her waist. The large amount of entwining Mori had done of placing himself all around her had Honey smiling so big that Karou was sure the little seniors head would split in two.

"Would you all give it a rest please? We're here," Kyoya stated wearily.

Mori clung closer to Haruhi in attempt to block out the noise the others made about finally being able to get off the bus.

"Mori-sempai... we're here," Haruhi softly spoke by his head as she gently rubbed his back in order to wake him up. When he sat up in a daze, Haruhi slipped out from under him and ran outside with the others to retrieve her bag in order to hide the fact that not only was she flustered, but she couldn't wipe the blush from her cheeks or the smile from her lips.

* * *

_Ootori... Why does that name sound familiar?_

A receptionist at the Shirahone Onsen Hot Springs resort pondered on the name, sure she had heard it before when Kyoya had managed to escape Tamaki's theatrics and make it inside and up to the desk.

"Sir?"

Kyoya realized he must have zoned out for a moment and went into his "host mode" to make up for it.

"I do apologize miss, your beauty just captivated me so much so that I forgot where I was. I have a reservation."

The receptionist smiled and blushed modestly at his comment.

"Can I have the party's name, sir?"

"Yes, Ootori Kyoya."

"And that's for seven?"

"Yes."

She paused for a moment, her eyes widening.

"Oh dear... it seems we're over booked. We only have three rooms."  
She looked so close to tears at the mix up that not even cold, heartless Kyoya could see being mad at her. It probably wasn't even her fault, he reasoned. Not to mention he was tired and ready to at least take a nap, if not sleep till morning.

"That's fine."

She looked like she didn't quite believe him but handed over seven key cards._  
_"Three are to the largest room."

"Thank―"

"KYOYA!"

The twins burst in and ran up to Kyoya with an ecstatic Tamaki behind them._  
_"You..."

Kyoya turned to them, missing the color drain from the girl's looked at him expectantly.

"Did you get the... Hey, you were the chauffeur that was going to drive us!"_  
_She just looked at them with wide eyes, laid her badge down, and walked out the front door.

Karou looked at Hikaru, "What was that?"

Haruhi, Mori, and Honey finally made it to them at the front desk, having not been in as big of a rush as the others.

Haruhi looked confused.

"What was up with the lady that just left? She was muttering on and on about snakes and what sounded like twins."

The twins looked at each other with wide eyes then turned back to her.

"Nothing!"

"Enough," Kyoya's headache was quickly turning into a migraine. "Room assignments..."

* * *

**Awww... Kyoya has a heart...**

**IM SORRY FOR THE CLIFFHANGER... But it really was suppose to be one chapter. I give you this and hope you stay for what will be (IN MY OPINION ANYWAY) a very funny, awkward Mori/Haruhi Hot Springs Chapter.**

**OH and the twins strike again! Poor girl...**

**Character Names**

**Yamada Katumi (niece) means Water**


	4. Of Scares and Bathrooms

**Authors Note: I'M SORRY I DIDN'T GET THIS DONE SOONER... OR IN AN EARLIER CHAPTER!**

**Disclaimer: Yeah... Yeah... Don't Remind Me**

**Anyway THANK YOU to all who have reviewed! I really appreciate it…**

**And to all I have promised and who has helped build this chapter… THANK YOU! I couldn't have done it without you guys! I hope it measures up!**

**NOTE: Rating has gone up… *siren*… Rating has gone up… because I'm paranoid… and can have more fun! =)**

**One more thing before I let you have at it... Because of the different rooms and the separation between the groups of people and POVs in this chapter there are extra notes throughout the chapter. I'm sorry if this confuses anyone... I thought it would be easier to understand what's going on for me as well as you guys... If you have a suggestion about how to do this better... don't hesitate to PM me or put it in a review.**

**THANKS**

* * *

**OF ROAD TRIPS AND ROMANCE NOVELS**

**CHAPTER 4: Of Scares and Bathrooms**

* * *

_He wanted to ask her to the party. It was a company party but still he wanted to go with her. Katsuo glanced to the object of his desire to see that she had disappeared from the office without him even noticing. He stood in nervous haste._

**_I'll go find her and ask her right now… Before I go and change my mind… Again…_**

_With new purpose he strode out of their shared office and headed down the hall where the mass document copier spent its days._

_"Ojisan!"… "Ojisan__!"…_

_His eyes widened in fright._

**_Huo…_**

_He loved his little nephew, he really did. It was just Kameko Huo was, well, wild. Looking and acting just like his brother-in-law, Mitsu, the child loved to run around and pester him. The only reason Katsuo had even agreed to have the hyperactive child in the office to start with was for his sister, Mae._

Over worked and under paid Mae worked for the city as an engineer and had come down with a cold the week before. Over the week her simple cold had steadily become the flu. This was not only worrisome but troublesome. With Katsuo needing Mitsu at the office and, seeing how Huo was on his summer break, Katsuo had no choice but to allow the child to have run of his building.

_Katsuo looked around the deserted hallway for anywhere to hide. If Huo found him, he could kiss not only asking Mariko to the party but the rest of his work day goodbye as well. _

_"Ojisan!" _

_Katsuo, thinking fast, ducked into the supply closet._

_"Ojisan?… Where are you?..."_

**_What a big voice for such a little kid…_**

* * *

"Room assignments?" The twins simultaneously asked.

"Yes, Hikaru, Karou, you two will share a room." Kyoya passed two key cards to Hikaru, who was standing to his left. Hikaru then passed one of the cards to Karou, who just shrugged.

"AND I'M SHARING A ROOM WITH MY DAUGHTER!" Tamaki screamed at the top of his lungs while picking up and swinging Haruhi around. This, of course, drew a lot of unwanted attention to the small group.

_I really wish he would stop..._

Thought Haruhi, who was struggling to breath and was feeling a little light headed do to the lack of oxygen.

She wasn't the only one though that had had enough of Tamaki.

In Mori's opinion, Tamaki's theatrics were really getting old. He didn't like them, and more importantly, he knew SHE didn't like them, therefore, in his modest little opinion they needed to stop... NOW!...

Honey noticed Mori once again clinching his fist.

"NOT FAIR! WE WANT HARUHI WITH US!" The twins shouted in disgust at their Tono's behavior, thinking that he could have _their_ toy all to himself. They slithered up to Tamaki, who was looking genuinely scared of the two, but willing to fight for his "little girl".

"Tono... you do realize you are more..."

"... Perverted then we could ever be?"

"AM NOT!"

"ARE TOO!"

And with that their battle began.

Tamaki, who was still holding her about the waist from his earlier shenanigans, tightened his grip and started to back away from the shady duo. For every step back they stalked closer, and then before Tamaki could bat an eyelash they pounced.

Haruhi didn't know which way to go. Every place she looked became a whirl wind of arms and legs, blonde hair and red. One arm was pulled one way, the other the opposite, same for her legs. All she knew was it hurt and she wanted out now! So she searched for the eyes of the one person that could, and would get her out of this, only then would she call out for help.

* * *

Mori was MAD.

He hated how they spoke about her like she wasn't there, how they made decisions for her. He hated how they felt they could touch her; much less MANHANDLE her whenever they pleased. He hated how they called her _daughter _or _toy._

To say he was jealous would have been and understatement. He thought at first this was the cause of his anger. He longed for the easy way they all touched and talked to her; of how close to her the others seemed. However, self-centered jealousy set aside, he found the root of his anger.

He hated how they hurt her without even realizing it. They all had good hearts he knew. He also knew they would all protect her at the cost of themselves, which is rear in the rich brats that he had come to see all of the Host Club, in comparison to simple Haruhi.

She was simple, blunt, and to him, perfect. She was everything high society wasn't.

And they HURT her.

She finally caught his eye, hers pleading with him for assistance. But before she could even call out for him, he was already there picking her up and away from the three buffoons, and settling her on his shoulder.

* * *

"So it's agreed Tamaki will share my room and you two will take Haruhi." Kyoya looked down at Honey and up at Mori until his eyes finally settled on Haruhi, who was perched on Mori's shoulder.

Her sigh of relief was audible as her body relaxed just a little against Mori. Her involuntary noise, though not loud, was what stopped the bickering and the tug of war that had continued even though Haruhi had left the battle. They hadn't even noticed her absents from the struggle, and looked around helplessly for her before spotting her on her newly made perch.

"Shut your mouth Tamaki or bugs will fly in."

_I really have to share a room with this moron…_

Haruhi is staying with Honey-Sempi and Mori-Sempi. Now can we please take our things to our rooms in a somewhat orderly fashion, please?" It wasn't like Kyoya to say please, but it had been a VERY exhausting day. He quickly handed the rest their cards and drug Tamaki upstairs so he wouldn't stand there gaping like the idiot he was in the lobby for the rest of the afternoon.

"And don't forget dinner is at six. That gives you all two hours to get settled in."

* * *

**Kyoya and Tamaki's Room**

* * *

With the bags unpacked Kyoya settled down for a nice quiet nap.

"Kyoya?"

*Poke*

"Kyoya?"

*Poke*… *Poke*

"Kyo-"

"WHAT!"

Tamaki promptly forgot what he was he was going to ask and scurried to the corner to grow some mushrooms thinking he'd rather be rooming with the devil incarnates then the Shadow King in his current mood.

* * *

**Hikaru and Karou's Room**

* * *

"Why do we all have to share rooms in the first place?" Hikaru was still mad that Haruhi was not going to be staying with them for the night.

"What?" Karou sniffled, "You don't want to sleep with me?"

Hikaru ran across the room to his twin and tilted his head up so he could look Karou in the eyes. "Of course I want to share a room with you, and only you." Their brotherly love act was becoming second nature to them.

After a loving embrace Karou slipped out of his brothers arms to finish unpacking. "But seriously though, it was probably just an overbooking."

"Yeah I know, but why did she have to stay with "him"?"

"By "him" you mean Mori-Sempi? So you've noticed it too… However would you rather her be staying with Tono?" Karou asked his brother, who, instead of unpacking was laid out over the covers on the single queen sized bed in the room. "From the look on your face I'll take that as a NO."

Hikaru rolled over and grumbled a bit.

_I wonder what they're doing._

* * *

**Female Dressing Room**

* * *

Haruhi had told the boys that's she was going on to the springs for a little bit in order to unwind from the eight hour trip into the Japanese Alps. She hadn't even bothered to take her bag to their room saying she'd just meet them for dinner then comeback with them to the room.

In all honesty she was glad she was in Honey and Mori's room and not the twins or Tamaki's. She didn't think she would have minded rooming with Kyoya all that much EXCEPT for the fact that by morning she would have accumulated so much debt she would have been stuck working for him FOREVER.

*Shiver*

There was one thing bothering her though, how was she going to be able to face Mori with all the awkward moments they had shared recently. On top of that, she couldn't quite figure out why she treasured each moment so much.

She found her way to the female side of the springs and went into the changing room to undress. After undressing, she started digging threw her bag, trying to find the least girly of all the clothes her father packed to change into when she got out; when something slithered across her hand.

"MORI-SEMPI!"

* * *

It had to have been fate once again because the changing room Haruhi was now trapped in was right under Honey, Mori, and Her room. So when she yelled, though muffled, Mori still could make out her voice and who she called… HIM!

Running out of the room he felt Honeys eyes on his back as raced down the hall.

While running down the long passage he realized that waiting for the elevator would take too long so he changed directions and headed for the stairs. Taking the steps two at a time, he made it down in record time and slid to a stop before the large daunting door of the female dressing room.

The _Female_ part did cause him to pause, if only for a moment.

To go in or not to go in? It really wasn't a question and he didn't really have an option. All he knew was that Haruhi was in there and he was wasting time out side.

Once barging into the room, all he could focus on was the threat. And the threat, if her pointing finger was any indication, was a large light grey duffle bag. So without wasting time, he quickly walked over to investigate not even noticing her attire, or lack thereof.

He saw that the bag was already unzipped, so he started riffling through it. After a moment or two he found the culprit.

HENRY

Recognizing the little yellow python as Henry, the cohort to Helga (the albino python that was in the sink) and knowing that the twins had Helga already packed up and ready to ship home, he figured that the two had conveniently "forgot" to mention that there may have been another snake on the bus. He then surmised that that the threat wasn't really a threat and was more of a phobia with some shock value added in. It was then, and only then did he notice what he was riffling through.

Pink, purple, and light pastels flooded the bag littered in with ruffles, bows, and lace. It wasn't the girlyness of it that made him turn a dark shade of red though, it wasn't even the fact that he had a black pair of sheer lacy pair of panties around his arm like a bracelet or that he was grabbling for dear life the matching bra in his large hand; it was the combination that he...

1. Was trapped in the FEMALE dressing room

2. Had in his hands some very FEMININE clothing

3. Saw the clothes he had seen all day "ON" a certain FEMALE on the floor

The fact that he had recently, while running down the stairs, had realized that he had some "feelings" for a certain "female" host, only compounded the fact that he...

1. Was trapped in the FEMALE dressing room **with HER!**

2. Had in his hands some very FEMININE clothing **that she WARES!**

3. Saw the clothes he had seen all day "ON" a certain FEMALE on the floor** as in NOT on HER!**

"Um... M-Mori-Sempi?"

* * *

_Hearing the child's voice fade, he sighed with relief and relaxed against the door. _

_"Linn-sama?"_

_Katsuo froze as he turned toward the very female voice._

_"The men's restroom is across the hall." Mariko smiled at him. Never would she have expected to see her formidable boss cowering from a child; much less behind the door of the female restroom._

_"I… Um… I was going to get some… Um… Staples… Yeah staples… From the supply closet…" Katsuo rubbed the back of his head, looking anywhere but at the giggly brunet in front of him._

_"I just refilled your stapler this morning." Finding it harder to contain her laughter at her fidgeting boss, Mariko lifted her hand to her mouth to hopefully hide her amusement._

_"Well… Um… Thank you…" Katsuo, turning an even brighter shade of red, turned with the last of his dignity in tacked and strode back to the shared office._

* * *

**HERE'S THE REAL QUESTION... TOWEL OR NO TOWEL? Review and Let me know what you think!**

**I KNOW ANOTHER CLIFFY... I just figured I'd give y'all something to come back for...**

**Thanks again!**

**Don't forget to Review!**

**Ojisan- Uncle**

**Character Names**

**Kameko Mae (Katsuo's sister) **

**Kameko Huo (Mae and Mitsu's son and Katsuo's nephew) means fire**


	5. Of Hospital Trips and Reading

**Authors Note: SO anyways I'm sorry I haven't updated... I'm in the middle of nowhere with no Internet... And I hope you enjoy the chapter... I'm sure it's full of errors because I'm working off the iPad without spell check...**

**Dedication: to lil Mexican for keeping me entertained and talking to me through the chapter.**

**Haruhi argues with herself as well as a phone call written in much the same style... If it's confusing how it's written now... Please don't hesitate to tell me and I'll do my best to fix it.**

* * *

**OF ROAD TRIPS AND ROMANCE NOVELS**

**CHAPTER 5: Of Hospital Trips and Reading**

* * *

"Um... M-Mori-Sempi?"

"Mori-Sempi!"

She watched in horror as one long leg shot up into the air dragging the rest of the large body with it, then cringed when it hit the ground... Hard...

She jumped off the sink with no regard to the state of her "undress" or the "demon" that was lurking in the grey gym bag. Running to the prone unresponsive figure on the floor, she shook his shoulder.

"Mori-Sempi... Mori..."

"Takashi!"

Honey, who had also heard Haruhi yell but figured Mori could handle it, came barreling in, running to his cousins side. He had originally came down to investigate his cousins lack of reappearance to their room, and maybe play a joke on the oblivious love birds and lock them in the changing room. But after hearing Haruhi yell once again, and sounding so distressed, he decided his presents was in fact needed.

"Takashi... Takashi!"

Gone was the cute little Lolita and in his place was a serious and authoritative boy, acting every bit of the eight-teen years he was old. Finding that his cousin was unconscious on the floor was not what he had expected when he barged into the changing room... Actually he had no clue as what he would find.

"Haruhi... What happened?"

Honey turned to the girl in question, keeping a protective hand on Mori's shoulder, then quickly turned away, turning a cute shade of pink.

Haruhi was frantically looking around for what could have possibly made him slip when a large white fluffy object interrupted her line of vision. It was then and only then that she realized her state of clothing... Or lack thereof. She snatched it and wrapped it around herself before looking up to see who had handed it to her.

Walking away from her, Kyoya bent down to pick up the culprit.

_A banana peel?... How did that get there?..._

He flipped his cell phone opened and called for medical assistance before turning his attention to a very flustered Haruhi.

"He... Um..." She looked over at Honey who was cradling Mori's head in his lap, looking for any signs of bleeding. "He came when I yelled for him..."

_Five... Four... Three... Two... One..._

Kyoya took a large step to the left to allow a small group of his personal medical staff to enter with a stretcher.

_They are a half second late... I must speak to the lead medical staff when I get home..._

"And why did you yell for him?"

"T-There was something in my bag..."

At this point Haruhi was embarrassed, a feeling she was not quite used to, and under Kyoya's hard stare, as well as the fact she was only in a towel, and she was quite self-conscious.

_I'm so going to have a word with those two trouble makers... Or sick Tamaki on them..._

"Sir," One of the EMTs spoke to Kyoya, "We'd like to take him to the hospital now." Kyoya nodded at him and the EMT motioned to the others to take Mori to the waiting ambulance.

* * *

**About an hour later in the dining room at the hotel**

* * *

"I'm sure he's fine..." Karou gave a worried look across the table and over to his brother.

"Yeah, it's not like it was your fault..." Hikaru started, feeling just a little guilty about their large sempi's impromptu trip to the hospital.

"Haruhi, come sit next to daddy and eat." Tamaki said with as much and care hand concern of her real father.

Having been filled in on what had happened by Kyoya before he left to join Honey, who had road with in the ambulance with his cousin, they were all told to go down to dinner and NOT to cause any trouble... At least until he got back.

The three watched their precious Haruhi pace back and forth in front of the single large window in the dining room overlooking the springs.

"Haruhi, come on... I'm sure he's fine quit worrying..."

She could hear them but so wasn't listening. So many thoughts were running through her head that she felt her head was going to explode.

_Why did he come running?_

**_Well you did call for him..._**

_But why did he have to play hero?_

**_Maybe he wants to be your hero..._**

She paused in hear trek back across the room.

_Why would he want to be my knight in shining armor?_

**_Why wouldn't he?_**

She started her pacing again.

_Well... Because he could be anyone's hero... What makes me so special?_

**_What makes you so sure he wouldn't?_**

_Could I possibly want him to want to could to my rescue?_

Haruhi was jerked out of her battle with here subconscious when Tamaki's phone started to ring.

"Hello?"

_"Tamaki."_

"Oh, Kyoya... How is he?"

Tamaki was actually extremely worried, especially after watching Haruhi pace for the last hour.

_"Better, he should be released day after tomorrow."_

"Why can't he be released tonight?"

Haruhi was staring at the phone in Tamaki's hand, wishing she could hear the other side of Tamaki's conversation.

_"He had a major concussion; they want to monitor him for at least a day."_

* * *

**At the Hospital**

* * *

"Yeah... I'm on the way back now..."

Snapping his phone shut he looked over to Honey who was fast asleep in the big chair by the hospital bed. Noticing the little senior shivering, he took off his jacket and threw it over the sleeping host.

He then turned to Mori who was laid up in the hospital bed. Usa-Chan's ears peeked over the top of the standard hospital issued blanket. Shaking his head lightly he turned to head out back to the springs... If it was still standing...

* * *

Upon hearing the door shut, Mori groggily sat up.

_What happened?_

Mori stretched and tried to recall what had happened. Not having in luck and seeing Honey safely snoozing in the chair next to him he just laid back and dozed.

_I'll ask when he wakes up..._

After lying there for over an hour, he was sick of staring at the ceiling. He, not used to being idol, looked around for something to occupy himself until Honey woke up.

Spying his suitcase, and finding it in arms reach, he drug it over to the bed. After searching for ANYTHING, he laid his hand on a book. Pulling it out,

_I forgot I had this..._

He started to read.

* * *

**Sorry it took so long to update... It may be a little speratic for a while...**


	6. Of Restless Nights and Crazy Mornings

**Authors Note: IM SO SORRY… Both for taking so long to update AND the crappy last chapter… ****Maybe this will make it up to all of you… I doubt it… I'm happy ya'll are still reading…****I ended up coming home to INTERNET for a couple days to go to a funeral… If there is a bright side… I can update a couple of chapters before going back to the country…**

**Oh one more thing... Then I'll shut up and let you read I PROMISE... Mori may seem a little... OK A LOT... OOC... But hey... Do we REALLY know WHAT he's really thinking?**

**OK maybe just one more thing... A POLL IS UP TO DECIDE WHERE TO SEND THEM NEXT!... If you have any other ideas don't hesitate to tell me!**

* * *

**OF ROAD TRIPS AND ROMANCE NOVELS**

**CHAPTER 6: Of Restless Nights and Crazy Mornings **

* * *

_Katsuo stalked into his apartment slamming the door in irritation. It had only been a month since Mariko had begun working in his office as his personal assistant and the other men in his office were really taking notice._

_He had no real interest in the woman. Sure she was unbelievably pretty, especially when she blushed, and her short chestnut hair accented her big eyes in just a way that he lost all since of reality as he got lost in their depths._

_She was an excellent assistant, predicting his needs before he had to ask. In all honesty he hadn't said more than twelve words to her in the four weeks she had worked for him._

_He did a mental count as he walked into his small living room with the mail._

_This is the main office; Here is your desk; (and when she asked where the restroom was) That way._

_Ok… make that eleven words he had spoken to her in the month she had worked for him._

_He could not understand his irritation…_

* * *

Mori scanned the pages at first out of boredom, but a little after page twenty, he was hooked. He felt like he knew the girl that was woven into the story. Mariko, the bright, blunt, independent office assistant, she seemed so familiar to him but he could not place who she reminded him of.

He continued reading for another hour or so, stretching his poor battered brain to the limit. He still had no clue as to what happened to him; although he had figured out he was getting one hell of a headache. So engrossed in the story however, it wasn't until the nurse came in to take his vitals and give him more pain medicine for the pain that had started dully at the base of his head then slowly working its way up behind his eyes, growing in pain every minute.

As the pain medicine worked its way into his system, the pain in his head slowly left making him feel a little light headed and somewhat drowsy, which, of course, preceded in making him slightly more talkative then normal. He closed his eyes letting them rest from the strain he had administered to them while the nurse finished up taking his blood pressure. When she closed the door with a light blush, Mori turned over, tucked the book under his pillow, and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**The Next Morning at the Hotel**

* * *

Breakfast went over with little excitement. The twins kept their mischievous selves under control… for the most part… and didn't attempt to aggravate Tono… too much…

"Hey, where is Haruhi?" Karou asked setting down his orange juice and looking around to the others that were around the table.

"MY DARLING DAUGHTER WAS KIDNAPPED?"

"Tamaki, shut up, the dead don't need waking this morning." Kyoya said with a sigh walking down the stairs. He was of course last down to breakfast.

"The dead's already walking." Hikaru stated while Karou suppressed a laugh.

"KYOYA!" OUR LITTLE GIRL IS MISSING!" Tamaki jumped up and ran around the table hysterically and grabbed Kyoya by the arm.

"First off she not my little girl and she is not your little girl either." Kyoya stated while pulling his arm free of Tamaki's death grip.

"WHY IS MOMMY BEING MEAN?" Tamaki wailed from the floor where he fell when Kyoya yanked his arm back.

"Secondly," Kyoya stood a little straighter while straitening up his button up shirt that Tamaki had almost ripped off his shoulder, "She is not lost, I passed her in the hallway on my way down. Apparently she spent the morning in the springs." He said all of this while walking toward the kitchen so he could have some much needed caffeine.

"Oh… and Tamaki…"

Tamaki looked up from his spot on the floor.

"I'm NOT your wife." At he ducked into the kitchen.

Tamaki crawled over to the corner to grow mushrooms while he wept, muttering about how "Mommy" should love him more and not be so mean to him.

The twins, laughing their heads off and pointing at Tono, sobered up very quickly when Kyoya came back into the room looking every bit worthy of the title "Shadow King".

"Hikaru… Karou… Why exactly was there a snake in Haruhi's bag?"

Karou shuffled behind his older brother and peeked over his shoulder. "Um… We don't know…"

"Yeah Kyoya-Sempi," Hikaru had paled considerable and looked wearily at his sempi, "we didn't know that Henry decided to take a nap in her bag."

"But you did know there were snakes on the bus?" Kyoya asked without lifting his eyes from his computer that he had opened while he sat at the table with his coffee, knowing that both boys were terrified.

_As they should be…_

"Y-Yes…" Both boys stuttered and cringed not wanting to know what the Shadow King had in store for them.

*CRASH*

The twins jumped and turned toward the crash before falling to the ground laughing.

Tamaki, who had bounded out of the corner to see what had happened, slipped on a mushroom and slid across the room before landing on his face. When he turned his head to get up, he realized he was nose to nose with a big white marble nose.

"YAHHHH"

Jumping up, he then fell backwards once again Kyoya caught his arm pulling him to his feet. "Tamaki can you please contain yourself?" Kyoya looked down at his dimwitted friend before he turned his attention to the out of breath, sandal clad girl picking up the fallen statue.

"I … Thought you all… might… have already left…" Haruhi, in a light blue spaghetti strap dress that ruffled in layers just below her waist and stopped right above her knee, was out of breath.

"Left?" Hikaru looked at Karou with a confused face.

"Where would we be leaving to?" Karou turned the confused look to Haruhi.

"I… I… Kyoya said that we were going to the hospital to see Mori-Sempi."

* * *

**Haruhi's Room The Night Before**

* * *

Haruhi could not sleep. She had been tossing and turning since she came up from dinner.

_Relax… He's fine… Just a concussion… He'll be back day after tomorrow good as new… No screw driver needed…_

Her last thought caught her off guard. She had never believed the twins when they referred to Mori as a robot. She knew for a fact he was kind, caring, and protective of the host club and its members. That may be why she never agreed with the twins theory of him being mechanical. The thought, however, had made her laugh and the worry easy a little.

She was still worried though.

Board and unable to sleep she went down to the kitchens for a snack, and while sitting down there board and nursing a cup of tea she decided to bake.

_Baking calms my nerves_

**_Why do your nerves need calming?_**

She searched the cabinets for everything she'd need.

_Honey would probably like a cake since he's been at the hospital all night._

She stood on her tip toes trying to reach the cake pans.

**_You know Mori-Sempi would be happy to get those for you…_**

_I don't need help._

She pulled herself herself onto the counter and retrieved the pan she needed.

_See I'm fine I don't need help._

**_But help sure is nice…_**

She shook her head and gave a deep sign, and then out loud she said, "I can't argue with that."

* * *

When the cake was done, frosted, and put away, Haruhi glanced at the clock and sighed.

_Only three o'clock… I guess I should try to get some sleep._

She cleaned up the kitchen then walked upstairs to her room.

It was lonely in there, not that she shared a room with anyone at home, but this room was so large. It had a king sized bed that took up the middle of the room and a day bed under a window that looked out over the springs. She stalked over to the large bed hoping to get some sleep. Closing her eyes her mind ran wild.

_Stupid twins… Stupid snake… Stupid feelings…_

**_Feelings?_**

_I don't have feelings, besides normal friendship, for Mori-Sempi._

She defiantly stood by her last statement.

**_I didn't go there… you did…_**

Tired of arguing with herself about the feelings she didn't have… **(ROLL EYES HERE)**... She rolled over in the big bed. The question had crossed her mind earlier whether to sleep in the large king sized bed or the twin daybed under the window. The answer was simple, Mori was in the hospital and Honey with him, and the big bed was closer to the door.

She rolled over and tried to get comfortable. Finding it less comfortable on that side she rolled on her back. Then, putting a pillow over her head and letting out an irritated growl she jumped out of bed.

She stomped over to the closet to get a swim suit out of her bag; after all, she was scared to go naked again. She looked for her bag before remembering what had transpired a few hours earlier.

She looked around the room for something to do. She really regretted not going back in her apartment to grab her book, at least if she had it she would have been able to keep her mind busy for a while.

While looking around the room she spotted a white sheet of paper on the dresser. Picking it up she scanned it…

**_Dear Haruhi,_**

**_We are really sorry about the whole snake thing, so we took your UGLY grey bag and sent Henry home. We also designed and made you a whole new wardrobe to replace the cloths we threw away. _**

**_YOUR WELCOME_**

**_Hikaru & Karou_**

_Damn Rich Bastards… At least the snake is gone…_

Walking to her closet she saw a white hard shell suit case with a strawberry littered in a random design.

_It could be worse…_

She shuffled threw the cloths and sighed. Finding a sleek back swim suit she stepped out of her T-shirt and boy shorts; she hadn't changed cloths after the incident with Mori, since she was scared to go near the bag, and went down to the springs.

* * *

She apparently had fallen to sleep basking in the warmth of the temperate waters. Jerking awake she looked down at her pruned hands and shook her head. Getting out she wrapped a towel around herself and headed up to the room to get dressed.

While walking down the long hallway in a days she ran into a hard chest.

"Sorry Si- Sempi…" Haruhi looked up into the face of resident Shadow King. Looking a little dazed himself, she assumed he had just left the confines of his room.

"Good morning Haruhi," Kyoya suppressed a yawn, he needed coffee… BAD…

"Good morning Sempi." She shuffled from foot to foot not enjoying the feeling of being unclothed in front of him… again…

"I had planned on everyone going to the hospital to visit Mori-Sempi." Kyoya looked down at her. He was even scarier when he first woke up. "You should hurry up and get dressed if you want to come."

She nodded and scurried to her room. She wanted… No needed to see for herself that he was ok. She grabbed her new suitcase and grabbed the first thing she saw, not caring how girly it was. Slipping on a blue dress and the gladiator sandals she found in the closet she ran downstairs.

_Knowing him… He'll leave me… Or worse… Leave me AND Tamaki…_

The stairs proved to be hazardous as she slid on the last step. She caught herself on the small end table in front of the dining room. The force she came at the table with pushed it into a lovely white marble nude statue to the ground severing its nose.

_Shit… bet that will be added to my debt…_

The twins laughing at poor Tono, broke her from her thoughts. Looking up she saw Kyoya trying to keep his anger under control and holding fumbling Tamaki by the arm.

"Tamaki can you please contain yourself?" Kyoya looked at her while she quickly tried to pick up the falling statue. His quizzical stare made her want to explain herself.

"I … Thought you all… might… have already left…"

_Really Haruhi… Stuttering… _

She scolded herself.

"Left?" Hikaru looked at Karou with a confused face.

"Where would we be leaving to?" Karou turned the confused look to her with an equally confused look

_Damn it Kyoya…_

"I… I… Kyoya said that we were going to the hospital to see Mori-Sempi."

"Come on then." Kyoya was by the door guiding a dazed Tamaki out to the limo.

_Before you all break something else…_

Piling into the limo, Kyoya directed the driver to the hospital.

* * *

**Wow… Haruhi is eager to see Mori isn't she… anyway sorry there wasn't... well any Haruhi Mori moments but it was getting long and hey... the novel finally made it back into the story...**

**Ok… Book character names: **

**Katsuo (the guy) name mean Victorious, Heroic Man**

**Mariko (the girl) name means True Village Child**

**IDK… They seemed fitting… **


	7. Of Distractions and Women

**Authors Note: GO TO MY PROFILE PAGE AND TAKE THE POLL… PLEASE!**

**To help with confusion anything in the "book" where a character is thinking… I've used **_**BOLD ITALICS…**_

**THANK YOU TO ALL MY READERS! NEW AND OLD!**

**DON'T FORGET TO READ AND REVIEW!**

* * *

**OF ROAD TRIPS AND ROMANCE NOVELS**

**CHAPTER 7: Of Distractions and Women**

* * *

_**How could she not realize she's being hit on?**_

_Katsuo watched his assistant with interest as he tapped his pen to his chin. He watched her small frame shift nervously back and forth trying to break free of her captor. _

_**I know she's not intimidated by him… She's not intimidated by my unfriendly self so I know she's not intimidated by that moron… I'm sure she is just impatient to get back to work…**_

_It was the same every day it seemed. He would come in and a coffee would be already sitting on his desk, freshly poured, with just the right amount of cream, sugar, and something else. Drinking his coffee he would go about his daily work: check the stocks; run predictions for the coming week; work on financial reports; and all the other daily monotony that was his life._

_The only thing that was breaking up his monotonous life was his new favorite pastime. _

_He would watch her out of the corner of his eye fluttering around the office. The way she floated around the room was like a well-choreographed dance. She would start with the mail, carefully laying it on the desk out of his way but was easily within arm's reach. She would make her way over to her desk that sat perpendicular to his and begin returning the phone calls that were missed from the afternoon before. Her voiced soothed him in a way nothing else ever had. He often caught himself zoning out getting caught up in her pure sound of her voice._

_**Maybe I should have her desk moved to empty office next door…**_

_He could easily call it a promotion giving her her own office and all, but he knew he wouldn't, even if it did mean he would get more work done. Her presents had woven into his life and for once he did not mind the intrusion._

_Pulled away from his thoughts by the warm soothing steam from a fresh cup of coffee being placed on his desk, he gave her a gentle rare smile and turned back to his work. Then, like clockwork, she sauntered out of the office to make copies. _

_**Finally I can get something done…**_

_While her presents was soothing, it was also put him on edge. _

_**Distracting woman…**_

* * *

**At The Hospital**

* * *

"HARUHI! COME SIT BY DADDY!"

_Why is he in my room?…_

Mori rolled over and tried to protect his ears from Tamaki's high voice. He honestly did not care who or what was in his room at the moment, he just wanted _it _to shut up. His head hurt.

"Sempi hush you're going to wake him up!"

_Haruhi?... Why was she in my room?…"_

He felt something soft cover his head, effectively blocking out both the light and some of the noise.

"Tamaki... Hikaru... Karou... OUT!" Kyoya's soft but stern voice left no room for debate and the three slunk out of room.

_So it was the twins making that hyena sound…_

"Honey, I baked you a cake since you were here all night." Haruhi, keeping her voice barely above a whisper, said as she removed the pillow she had placed over her sempi's head to try and reduce the horrendous amount of noise produced by Tamaki and the twins. Placing the pillow on the large chair that sat by the bed. She dimmed the lights effectively darkening the room.

_I know how headaches are… I can only imagine how bad his is…_

She looked down at Mori's calm face. His hair was all askew and she felt the need to fix it. Her humble fixing turned into gentle stroking as she ran her fingers in his soft locks, careful to avoid the large white peace of gauze covering the back and right side of his head.

_He looks so peaceful… He's even more handsome when he sleeps…_

"Haruhi?" Honey, who was very much enjoying the moment, tugged on her sleeve.

She jumped and shook her head, trying to erase her previous line of thinking. "Yes Honey-Sempi?"

Honey's grin widened at the light blush on her cheeks, "I'm going to go down to the cafeteria to get plates and forks for the cake, Kay?" He grinned up at her with all the innocents of a child.

"OK Honey-Sempi." After a spit second of thought she added to her statement.

"Be careful OK?"

Honey sprouted little pink flowers at her request.

_How does he do that?..._

"Take care of Takashi while I'm gone!" With that he scampered out of the room, Usa-Chan flying behind him.

"Um… Ok…" She knew the little blonde hadn't heard her answer. She glanced around the room and noticed that Kyoya had made his exit without her knowing, leaving her alone with Mori.

Sighing she turned back to face the bed with full intention of returning to her musings while playing with Mori's hair.

When she turned however, she came nose to nose with a very sleepy Mori.

"Why are you here Haruhi?" He had scooted up on his pillows so he could be in more of an upright position.

Startled, Haruhi stepped back, but recovered quickly.

"I'm here to see you Mori-Sempi."

She walked around the bed and settled into the chair and curled her legs under her.

After a rather awkward silence, Mori remembered he had something of hers to return.

"Hey, Haruhi?"

"Yes Mori-Sempi?" She turned to face him; her cheeks still a dusty pink. She knew how Mori could get when he was sleepy, but she put up a brave front and smiled calmly.

_How bad can he be?... He does have a head injury… It can't be all that bad…_

As these thoughts ran threw her mind, much different thoughts ran threw his.

_God she's beautiful… I wonder how the twins got her in that dress… The blue looks nice on her…_

"Mori-Sempi… Mori-Sempi…" He seemed to have frozen up. Staring in her direction she waved her hand in front of his face and called his name.

_Maybe the twins were on to something with that robot theory… I wonder if I need a hammer…_

She shook her head leaned closer to him. She began to yell louder then she had deemed appropriate earlier.

"Mori-Sempi… Mori-Sempi..."

Haruhi was getting nervous. First he had called her like he wanted to ask something then spaced out. Debating whether to get a nurse she continued to call his name.

"Mori-Sempi… Mori…"

She was almost frantic now.

"… TAKASHI…"

She had reflexively called his name and shook him.

"Haruhi?"

He blinked and looked up at where she stood over. Worry etched her features as she laid a shaky hand to his forehead before letting it trail over his cheek.

_What happened?... Why is she so worried?... Did I do something?…_

Not knowing what to say to ease her fears, he told her the last thing he could remember before zoning out.

"I was thinking about how beautiful you were…"

If he had wanted to ease her fears, he had succeeded. All worry was erased from her face and in its place was embarrassment. He didn't think he had ever seen her so blush so harshly. The idea made him grin.

She removed her hand from his face, suddenly finding the touch of his skin would burn her. She stepped back tried to get her bearings.

_He's tired… That's all… He's flirtatious when he's tired…_

She hung on to the first coherent thought she could grab.

"You were going to ask me something?"

He went to scratch the back of his head from his own slight embarrassment.

"I have something of yours I need to return."

"Oh… What is it?" Her voice shook. She needed to get out of the room; she could not breathe in here so close to him.

"They're in that bag over there." He lazily pointed to a large black bag by the sink, as he snuggled back down into his bed.

Haruhi unzipped the bag and riffled threw it. "Mori-Sempi… What am I looking for exactly?" Glancing over her shoulder she had to smile at the peacefully sleeping man. She walked over and picked up his hand that grazed the floor. After placing his arm back on the bed, she pulled the covers over him. She readjusted his pillow and looked down at him.

_He really is handsome when he sleeps…_

She leaned over and softly, so not to wake him, kissed him gently on the forehead.

_Maybe I do have some… Feeling…_

What kind of "feelings" she did not know, but she did realize something was there. She went back over to the duffle bag that had fallen from the counter and dumped its contents onto the floor. She leaned down to pick up the clothes that littered the floor.

She stood to put a pair of boxers back in the bag when something strangely familiar caught her eye. Her eyes bulged and the boxers fell to the floor. Her hand came up to her mouth and she turned the most vivid shade of red ever imaginable.

_How?… But… No… There is no way… _

* * *

**Want a hint... It's not the Novel... and the big hint... chapter four... LOL**

**He He He… I'm Evil… Don't worry I'll be posting the next chapter either tonight or in the morning before I leave to go back to no internet land…**

**DON'T FORGET TO TAK THE POLL **

**AND REVIEW!**


	8. Of Flashbacks and Nurseries

**Authors Note: ****I hope you are all very proud of me... 3 chapters in 3 days... Geez I'm depressed... Guess it's not a total loss is it?**

**Well… Out of the 8 people that took my poll so far… every one of them so far wants the bus to break down… COOL!**

**The poll is still opened so please stop by my profile page and add your votes!**

**Don't forget to also review… reviews make me happy… and because of all your encouraging and helpful reviews… you all helped me threw a very bad week… and inspired two more chapters out of me… so **

**THANK YOU!**

**WARNING: Everyone has said how well I've kept them in character… *looks a little worried*… This one may be a little more OCC… And I'm not talking tired Mori OOC either… Anyway bear with me… I needed the laugh… OOO MUSHROOM…**

* * *

**OF ROAD TRIPS AND ROMANCE NOVELS**

**CHAPTER 8: Of Flashbacks and Nurseries**

* * *

_How?… But… No… There is no way…_

Haruhi could not wrap her mind around what she was seeing. She thought back trying to place where Mori MIGHT have even came close to picking THOSE up…

* * *

***Flash Back* **

* * *

_Haruhi sat on the rose marble counter in terror as Mori flew through the door._

_She pointed her shaky hand at the grey duffle bag. She had been getting clothes out of in order to change for dinner; that way when she got out of the springs she could just throw them on and get down before Kyoya increased her date do to her tardiness. While searching her bag for some "nongirly" clothes, something had crawled across her hand._

_She watched, not even aware she was naked, as her Sempi dug through her bag._

* * *

**NOTE: This wasn't word for word out of the scene in chapter 4 because it was originally in Mori's POV**

_Had he really carried them all the way here unconscious?..._

"Why?"

"Because I wanted something to remember you by…" Mori gave his sleepy reply before letting out a soft snore.

She snapped her head to her tormenter, glaring daggers at him, embarrassment gone.

Here embarrassment was replaced by an irritable anger at herself. She had jumped from casual concern **(ROLF)**, to real worry **(That's better)**, to embarrassment, and now a weird form of anger. She had enough of these so called "feelings" today.

**_Oh… so their feelings now?_**

_They're not those kinds of feelings…_

**_Right… Whatever you say… *mental eye roll*_**

_I mean I just don't get how he can make me feel so much at one time…_

**_Ask those feelings what "kind" they are then…_**

_I mean seriously… Why?... Why did he have to be sleepy?... Why does he have to be charming?... Why did he have to steal my underwear?..._

Haruhi settled into a sitting position against the wall. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

_Just what kind of feelings are they then?_

She looked at the sheer black lace panties and matching bra like it was going to bite her.

"I hate feelings…"

"HARU-CHAN!"

The yell had come from the hall outside Mori's door.

Her head snapped to the door eyes widening. She snatched up undergarments and jumped into the chair just as the bouncy blonde bounded back into the room.

**(I don't think it occurs to her that Honey HAS if fact seen her naked…?)**

"HARU-CHAN, I BROUGHT CAKE!"

Haruhi looked from her sugar high sempi to the empty cake plate and back up.

"Um… Honey-Sempi?"

Honey shuffled from foot to foot looking up at her threw his blonde mess of hair.

"I… um… I kinda got hungry on the way back… Sorry…"

Haruhi sighed, it not like she liked cake anyway, though one strawberry would have been nice.

"It's not a big deal." Haruhi gave the little senior a grin. "I really don't like sweets anyway and I did bake it for you…"

"HARU-CHAN IS SO NICE!"

She nearly fell over when he jumped into her arms.

_Man he's heavy… Maybe he should lay off the cake and candy… Na… That's not going to happen._

"Takashi wasn't that much trouble was he?" Honey asked looking up at her with hopeful eyes and crossed his fingers behind her neck.

_More trouble then you could POSSABLY imagine…_

"He was no trouble at all." Haruhi grinned at her little sempi, even though her emotions we're in turmoil. "Speaking of trouble though… Where are Tamaki and the twins?"

Honey grinned evilly but maintained every bit as innocent and cute as always. "Kyoya needed them for something upstairs."

* * *

**The Nursery (AKA: Upstairs)**

* * *

"Ewwwww…" The twins said in unison.

Karou held a chubby, squirming baby boy with curly black hair flat on his back, while Hikaru expertly extracted the poopy diaper from its bottom.

_He's getting quite good at that…_

Thought Kyoya with a smirk. As punishment for the numerous snake "incidents", Kyoya had assigned the twins to "Diaper Duty" in the hospitals nursery.

Of course a nurse had to teach them, but now they were getting the hang of it on their own, leaving the nurse to fawn over Tamaki while he played soft lullabies on the piano in the corner.

**(It's an OOTORI hospital... Of course they have a piano in the nursery… Damn Rich Bastards…)**

"Kwowa, can we swop now?" Hikaru begged all nasally because of an acquired clothes pin clipped to his nose.

"Hmmm… the doctor said Mori-Sempi can be released early… and that means this afternoon." Kyoya answered him as he sat gently gliding back and forth in one of the many rocking chairs scattered about the room. He had his laptop perched on his knee and was typing away.

"Swo… can we pwease swop now?" Karou said readjusting his clothes pin that rested on his nose.

"By this afternoon," Kyoya smiled evilly at the two, "I meant that the earliest they would let him leave is six." He glanced down at his watch. "It's only one now so you have five more hours of "Diaper Duty"."

Sighing Karou looked down at the giggling baby in his arms and had to smile. The baby reached up a chubby little hand and yanked off the clothes pin from his nose giggling.

Karou held his breath. "You know you're not so bad… just really stinky…"

Hikaru laughed at brother. "Wucky me I swill have my cwothes pin."

Karou smirked. "I may have to smell it now, but at least I'm not getting peed on."

* * *

**No Cliffy Hanger… Aren't you proud?... But just because I didn't give you reason to come back… you still have too… or I'll cry… or grow mushrooms all over you…**

**Is anyone (other than Haruhi) buying Honey's innocent act? … Didn't think so…**

**Flash Back is from chapter four…**

**Here's the actual line since it was originally in Mori's POV (It was when he was riffling through Haruhi's bag looking for Henry) I know it was an odd thing to say she found… but hey…:**

**Pink, purple, and light pastels flooded the bag littered in with ruffles, bows, and lace. It wasn't the girlyness of it that made him turn a dark shade of red though, it wasn't even the fact that he had a black pair of sheer lacy pair of panties around his arm like a bracelet or that he was grabbling for dear life the matching bra in his large hand; it was the combination that he...**

**Now that I think about it though… I have the first page of the original chapter 5 (never finished) when Mori saw her (towel/no towel) if you would like to read it it's about 150 words. But if you would like to read it let me know and I'll email it to you… I will also send it as a review and post it on my profile for a while... if that makes it easier. LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT ME TO WRITE IT INTO EITHER THIS OR A DIFFERENT STORY!**


	9. Of Sleep and Coffee

**Edited, once again by the lovely TheLingeringWolf**

**Sorry for the delay guys! THANK YOU to everyone who voted! The winner was… as expected… Have the bus brake down! AWSOME! All of the places will be included to some extent but in the order most wanted!  
In this chapter we'll get to see Mori's subconscious come out to play!  
So THANK YOU and ENJOY and REVIEW… Please…**

* * *

**OF ROAD TRIPS AND ROMANCE NOVELS**

**CHAPTER 9:** **Of Sleep and Coffee  
**

* * *

"Mother… Why couldn't we bring one of those cute babies home?"

"Tamaki… why must you be such a moron?" Kyoya shook his head. The doctor, true to his word, had released a tired Morinozuka Takashi at around six o'clock, and the merry band of host had just arrived back at the hotel.

"MOTHER!" Tamaki whined.

Ignoring him, Kyoya stepped out of the car.

"Dinner is in thirty minutes."

And with that, everyone disbanded to their rooms to clean up for dinner except for Haruhi who, due to some unnamed feelings, opted to wait in the dining room. Mori had politely declined dinner, saying in his own unique brief way that due to a headache he would go on to bed. After a delicious dinner of crab and fancy tuna ordered just for Haruhi, Honey bounded up the stairs, yelling goodnight to anyone and everyone he passed. Haruhi decided to turn in shortly after and made her way up to their room.

Well… I wasn't expecting that… Now what? Sound asleep in the large king-sized bed was a lightly snoring Mori, which by himself, would not have been a problem, or maybe that was the problem… Looking around the room, she spotted Honey curled up in a ball on the day bed. That left the only free place to sleep was in the bed with Mori.

_Crap…_

Haruhi let out a loud yawn and decided it was too late to find a new place to sleep, so she gave up and cautiously walked over to the large bed. She sat on the side before gently, so as to not wake the sleeping giant, laid down on the very edge. Finding the edge slightly unnerving, she scooted closer to the middle. Haruhi had just snuggled down into the plush bed when a hand grazed the small of her back, causing her to jump and nearly come all the way off the bed. She glared at the prone figure before an idea struck her.

_PILLOWS!_

She started grabbing every pillow, including some off an unconscious blonde senior's bed that she could get her hands on and piled them in the middle of the large bed, effectively making a wall between her and her dead to the world sempai.

_Perfect! That way he will stay on his side of the bed!_

**_Do you really want him to stay on his side of the bed? Wouldn't you rather cuddle up in his big strong ar-_**

_Nope… not even tempting._

She snuggled back down and listened to Mori's deep breathing. Finding it surprisingly soothing, she nodded off to sleep.

* * *

Mori's left arm was tingly.

_Comfy… not ready to wake up…_

He instinctively rolled toward the warmth that radiated from the long pillow on his left side and threw his right arm and leg over it. He snuggled deeper into the covers and pulled the pillow closer into his embrace. He then took a deep breath and inhaled the sweet smell of strawberry shampoo.

_Hmmm… my arm's asleep… don't care… pillow smell's good… wait…_

He opened one eye and peeked. His eyes widened as a very sleepy Haruhi turned over in his arms, using his arm as a pillow. He froze as he watched his sleeping beauty, scared she would wake.

**_Oh… so she's your "Sleeping Beauty" now?_**

_No… well… yes… she's the Host Club's princess…_

**_She belongs to the Host Club?_**

_Well… no… she doesn't belong to anyone…_

**_But you think she should belong to you?_**

_No… she's too independent to belong to anyone…_

**_But that doesn't mean you don't want to have her… to have and to hold…_**

_Maybe…_

She had woken up enough to turn over and cuddle into the large warmth lying next to her, her hand coming to rest just above Mori's heart. He relaxed into her soft touch, enjoying the feeling of being able to be close to her, even just for a little while. Of course the sweet moment had to end. His arm started hurting… badly. He carefully sat up, bringing her with him, before placing her back down on a plush pillow. He watched as she snuggled into her new cushion and longed to be able to lie back down and take her into his arms once more. However, just like his tingly arm to begin with, his stomach let out a growl that promised to wake up every person in the hotel if it didn't get fed soon. Mori leaned over and brushed some of Haruhi's chestnut hair from her eyes. Smiling down at her peaceful sleeping face, he brushed his lips against her forehead and left the room.

* * *

_Katsuo watched his assistant who dozed quietly with her head resting on a pile of papers. Yes, she was sleeping at work; yes, he should wake her up, or send her home, or something. He listened to her soft breathing. Wouldn't it be nice to hear that sound before you went to sleep… or when you woke up every morning? He shook the thought from his head. He could not afford to let himself think that way. Mariko was his office assistant, nothing more. No matter how much he wanted her to be. The phone rang. He quickly turned back to his reports so she would not realize he had been watching her, or have realized she had even fallen asleep._

_"Linn's Law-firm, Mariko speaking," her voice sounded like preverbal honey to his ears._

_"Yes… Yes, Mr. Eatman…"_

_Not that stupid man again…_

_Wallace Eatman was from the States, and was always a pain to work with. Katsuo shook his head 'no' when she looked over at him. With some disappointment (after all, she hardly ever heard her boss speak), she proceeded to tell the half crazed man on the phone that Katsuo was out of town and would not be back till the following week. Katsuo nodded thanks to her as she got up from her desk to pour them both a much needed cup of coffee. For four months now he had been meaning to ask her what she put into his coffee. It was not like it was bad, much the contrary, it was amazing. Never had a cup of coffee tasted so good on his lips._

_"Your coffee, what's in it?"_

_She stopped stacking some law journals and glanced at him before turning back to her task._

_"Cinnamon."_

* * *

Mori's head was pounding. After leaving a sleeping angel upstairs he had wandered to the kitchen to find a snack that would ease his hunger till morning. Finding nothing he settled for a cup of coffee and Haruhi's book to help him tire. However, all that resulted in was a very large headache. Slipping the book back into his laptop case, he laid his head on the table. A few minutes later he heard someone coming down the stairs. He winced.

_Please don't be the twins… or worse… Tamaki… my head hurts…_

"Mori-sempai?" Haruhi quietly stepped into the room, careful to not make noise. She saw the pain written all over his face and saw his bag at his feet. She walked over to him and kneeled down in front of him so he would not have to lift his head too much. Resting a hand on his knee she looked up at him.

"Have you taken your pain medicine?"

He shook his head 'no'. She quickly went through his bag and extracted the bottle. After quietly shaking two pills out and handing them to him, she stood and refilled his coffee. He heard her shuffling around for a minute before producing the large cup back in front of him.

"You know that coffee will keep you awake."

He shrugged. Haruhi suppressed a smile as she watched his eyes light up.

"Good."

"Thank you. It's an old family secret for the cure of headaches." Haruhi gave him one of her smiles that left him warmer than any coffee would make him. When she held her hand out to him he graciously took it. She lead him back upstairs and tucked him into the large bed, before walking to her side and began rebuilding her wall. Mori just shook his head and pulled her down next to him. As he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer, he rested his head a top hers.

"Sleep."

It was such a simple command that all Haruhi could do was nod. She thanked God it was dark in their room because she was sure she was blushing like mad. Warm in his arms however, sleep was easy to find and soon she was in dreamland.

* * *

Moring came too early for Haruhi as she hid under the covers to escape the bright morning sun.

"Haruhi."

Kyoya stood in the doorway and smirked at the large pile of pillows that hid Haruhi from the light of day.

_She's almost as bad as me in the mornings…_

"Haruhi, we're leaving in five minutes."

That got her up; at least until the sheet tangled around her legs and sent her flying.

"Ah, Haruhi… nice of you to join the living."

_He's one to talk…_

"We're on the bus when you're ready."

At that, Kyoya turned to go back downstairs.

_Damn rich bastards…_

Haruhi arrived out of breath to the bus. As she stumbled onto the bus, a hand reached out and steadied her. She looked at the hand and whom it was attached to and blushed. Mori guided her to the seat next to the bus pulled out, Tamaki at the wheel, Mori handed her a doughnut and a travel mug of just looked from the cup to Mori in a reached out and guided her hand around the cup and pushed the doughnut to her lips.

"Breakfast."

After swallowing the doughy bread, Haruhi gave him one of her natural smiles.

"Thank you."

_Screech!_

"TAMAKI!"

"I DIDN'T DO IT!"

All that could be seen out of the windshield of the bus was puffy grey smoke.

* * *

**Sorry for being lazy and not typing a breakfast scene… This chapter just kept going on… and on… and on…  
Awww… Haruhi kissed Mori on the forehead… now he's returned the favor…  
Is it just me… Or does Mori not argue with his subconscious half as much as Haruhi does with hers? Oh and what's up with Mori's subconscious saying that he wants her "To have and to hold"?… O.o…**


	10. Of Accidents and Phone Signals

**To: MISTRESS HYDRANGEA  
**

**I LOVE YOU MORE!**

**-TAMAKI HUG-**

**Authors Note: I'M WARNING YOU NOW... IT'S NOT THE BEST CHAPTER EVER WRITTEN! I did think ya'll deserved SOMETHING though... Forgive the crappy chapter... The good news though is the next (Much better chapter in my opinion will be out in less then a week... So don't hate me please...**

**For anyone that didn't know... I did some major (ok not that major) re-editing... nothing story wise has changed HOWEVER I did go back and added some more novel bits in each chapter (minus chapter 5... O.o...)**

**This almost seemed like an all about Kyoya chapter… He's just so fun when he's irritated…**

**Oh and Honey being told he can't help and to go eat cake... NOT MINE... It was in the Manga... OR... The Anime... I don't remember... MY BAD!  
**

**Enjoy and please review!**

* * *

**OF ROAD TRIPS AND ROMANCE NOVELS**

**CHAPTER 10:** **Of Accidents and Phone Signals****  
**

* * *

"_Mariko?" Katsuo asked gently to the hunched over woman._

_It had looked like her car from the road, a sensible silver Ford Focus. It was not exactly a rare car, in fact it was one of the most popular cars with no exciting colors, or so he had read._

_He was just rubber-necking along when a less then graceful girl with short chestnut hair had stumbled out._

_Recognizing her immediately he had parked his car behind the large truck that had T-boned her._

_**Her little Focus never stood a chance…**_

"_Mariko?" He asked again softly, placing an arm around her shoulder and giving her a little shake._

_She looked up at him with a blank stare._

_**She's still in shock…**_

_Katsuo guided her to the ambulance that had just arrived on scene and, with the paramedic's help, sat her in the back where she could hang her feet out the door and get her bearings._

"_You her husband?" The tall lean blonde asked him gently, seeing the worry on his face._

"_Boss…" Katsuo could not look up from his little, clumsy, adorable, office assistant. She looked so small and vulnerable._

_It was in that instant that he realized just how bad he had fallen for the girl, and how much he wanted to protect her from anything that might harm her._

_The nurse's eyes widened. She had been in the medical field for quite a long time and knew that look well. It was a look of sadness, of guilt, of not being able to protect what is yours, it was a look of love._

_Patting him softly on the shoulder as she passed she said, "Relax… It'll all work out fine…"_

_Katsuo visibly relaxed at the much needed words of encouragement._

* * *

Upon leaving the confines of the toxic beast, the group was assaulted with thick dark smoke coming from the front of the bus. Taking charge, as always, Kyoya strode to the front of the monster and popped the large swing door that constituted its hood.

_Hmmm… Kyoya the mechanic… this could be interesting…_

Haruhi had to resist the over whelming urge to giggle; however, her giggles soon turned into shallow raspy breaths. She was itching to get out of smoke. Her chest had started to tighten and she could feel the strain in her breathing as she began to wheeze. Then the coughing came. All she had the strength to do was stand there, bent over, and cough.

* * *

Mori was in a surprisingly good mood. It might have been that he had gotten to sit by a bright and charming host all morning, or maybe that for the first time in a long while that he had gotten a good night's rest, even if that rest had been interrupted by a trip to the kitchen. He could have grinned (if it weren't so un-Mori like) at the memory of Haruhi's tender loving care as she set about trying to make him feel better. He couldn't, however, suppress the slight upturn of his lips at another memory of the previous night, one that he'd hold dear for a long time to come. He had longed for the easy way the others touch her. Last night, his tiredness had him the courage to do as he had wished for since he had first picked her up. Today, with his lethargic bravery gone, things were back to normal. To Mori though, it seemed "normal" was edging into each others personal space.

It was nice to get off the bus to stretch; standing in the smoke though, was having a bad effect on Haruhi he noticed. Her natural smile was the first thing that drew him in.

_I wonder what she's finding so funny…_

As he edged closer, he saw her grin and cute giggle disappear. Growing a more concerned by the second, he heard, what he thought was her clearing her throat; however, when her coughing started to worsen, almost to the point of her turning blue, Mori took it upon himself to help.

"Come." Haruhi momentarily caught her breath long enough to stare at his extended hand before doubling back over and letting out a loud whooping cough.

Mori knew that he needed to get her out of the smokey haze, so as gently and quickly as he could; he hoisted her over his shoulder and carried her into the woods and clear of the smoke.

* * *

"Tamaki, what happened?" Kyoya was getting madder by the second. He was hot, tired, and caffeine deprived.

"I-I d-do-don't know…" Tamaki was cowering behind the twins who just stepped to the side leaving Tamaki straight in the line of fire of a very irritable Kyoya.

"Buses don't just suddenly break down without warning." Kyoya was eerily calm, anger bubbling just beneath the surface.

"Hey… Kyoya-Senpai?" Karou was holding up his cell. "Do you have any signal?"

Distracted from wanting to kill Tamaki for a moment he yanked out his cell.

_Crap…_

"No Karou… I don't have any service…" Kyoya stated through clenched teeth. "Does anyo-"

"Nope."

"Nada."

Not blinking Kyoya turned his stare from the twins to Haruhi, Mori, and Honey; however, were they had been standing was now void of everything except the last wisps of smoke.

"Where did they go?"

* * *

Honey bounded after Mori when he saw his cousin stride into the luscious greenery that lined the desolate highway. He quickened his pace when he saw that Haruhi was slung over his shoulder.

"Takashi!... Wait up!... What's wrong?"

Mori stopped, figuring they were clear of the smoke, and settled Haruhi down next to a large cherry blossom tree.

_Well I got her away from the smoke… Now what?..._

He looked around helplessly, listening to her muffled coughs that, though sounding much better, still had him on edge. Her ragged breaths sent tremors of terror threw him. He was really close to all out panicking when a small blue bag magically appeared in front of him.

"Takashi."

Mori looked up at his cousin in surprise. He had not realized that anyone had followed him, but he was very thankful that Honey did. Especially since it seemed Honey knew what might have been going on, and grabbed Mori's backpack.

Mori sighed with relief when he saw the humble little blue bag he kept his inhaler in. When he was young he had suffered with bouts of asthma, but over the years with his kendo training, he had strengthen his lungs so much so that he never even bothered to carry around the little blue inhaler with him. His mother, however, did not see it that way. Being the worry wart ever mother is at times, she had insisted that it go with him. He owed her a hug and a kiss when they got home.

With an arm still around Haruhi he put it up to her mouth, but before he administered the puff he looked over questioningly to Honey.

"She can have it. I asked Kyoya a while back about it a after host club one day when she was wheezing after working so hard."

And here we thought he was just an immature senior with a fetish for cakes and rabbits... shame on us...

Mori didn't need to hear more. After getting the ok, he gently pushed the open in against her lips. After giving her the standard two puffs he sighed in relief when the wheezing broke loose. He looked up gratefully at Honey before returning his gaze to a very worn out Haruhi. Her head lulled to the side and met with his shoulder.

"There you are." Kyoya stated, announcing his presents as he strode into the clearing.

* * *

Following Kyoya back to the bus, Haruhi discovered that with Mori walking so close to her, she still could not breath.

_Can't he back up a little..._

_**Feeling a little self conscious?...**_

_NO... I'm just feeling a little crowded... Can't catch my breath... Probably from the near asthma attack... I didn't even know I had asthma..._

_**Are you sure it's not those "feelings" you won't talk about... **_

_NO..._

_**Right... You know you can't fool me... I'm your conscious...**_

_Stupid feelings... Stupid conscious... Stupid heart racing..._

_**So he does affect you...**_

While Haruhi was getting aggravated with her self conscious, Mori walked next to her. He was scared to let her leave his sight. He had been so worried, so scared. He had felt helpless. He was not used to feeling helpless, and he did not want to ever feel that way again.

Sensing her speed up, he adjusted his pace to her. She seemed frazzled and stressed. Worried he reached out and laid his hand on her shoulder.

She jumped.

"I-I... Um..."

Her blush was adorable.

"OK?"

_Ok... He's asking me if I'm ok..._

**_Awww... He cares..._**

_Shut up..._

Scared she might stutter or say something stupid, she nodded and was gifted with a rare genuine smile from Mori.

She felt like the world stopped in that moment.

_I do have feelings for him don't I..._

_**Thank you captain obvious... What do you think I've been trying to tell you!..."**_

"Haruhi?"

She jumped and turned toward Kyoya.

"Do you have phone service?"

Taking her phone out and flipping it open, she looked up in defeat.

"No I don't."

"Me neither." Honey snapped his phone shut and Haruhi caught a glimpse of his bunny phone case. **(There's a link at the bottom to see the phone case)**

Mori just shook his head.

Having returned to the bus everyone, for once, was quiet and lost in their own thoughts.

"Well now what?"

Everyone turned their eyes to Tamaki, who was hunched to the side of the bus where the last of the smoke was being whisked away, most likely in the effort to get away from Kyoya and was probably in the process of growing some sort of fungi.

"N-N-Now Now…" Tamaki jumped up and began backing away from the six sets of angry stares waving his hands in defense. "We-We c-can just call a tow-"

"No cell phone service… Remember…" Kyoya was stalking up to Tamaki like he was stalking prey.

"W-well… Kyoya's s-secret p-p-police force should be right behind up right?" Tamaki lighted up at the obvious answer to predicament.

_I might just get out of this alive…_

Kyoya dropped down and sat against the bus. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the massive tire.

"I told them to go on ahead…"

Everyone's eyes were on him now.

"So does that mean we're walking?" Hikaru asked.

Kyoya sat up, back to his old commanding self.

"Tamaki!"

"Y-Yes?"

"Go get the tent in the cargo load." Kyoya pointed at the bus, secretly glad Tamaki insisted they bring it along.

_Not that I'd ever tell him that…_

"Hikaru… Karou…"

The twins jumped to attention.

"Go make something so we don't starve to death out here…" The twins saluted and dashed off to the bus.

"And…" The twins froze midstep waiting for Kyoya to finish his command, "Don't forget to pack plenty of water." It was like he hit the unfreeze button, and the twins were off again.

_As tempting as the idea maybe… If Tamaki passes out… I'll be stuck hauling him to civilization…_

Kyoya bit back his cringe.

"What about me?… What about me?..." Honey bounced at his side.

"You are going to go eat some cake."

Honey deflated

"Why do I always get stuck eating cake…"

"Come on Honey-Senpai… I'll go eat some with you." Haruhi took his hand and lead him back to the bus and Mori turned to follow.

"Mori-Senpai?" Kyoya turned to take in the much taller boy. Kyoya had taken note all day of the way his senior had acted and knew for a fact Mori still had a headache and Tamaki wasn't helping.

"We need someone to watch the bus until we get help," Kyoya started. All in all he was not a bad guy. Sure he had his moments, but he really did care for his friends, some of them anyways. "Would you mind staying here with Honey-Senpai and Haruhi?"

With a nod, Mori turned to follow Haruhi and Honey onto the bus.

* * *

**DON'T FORGET NEW NOVEL TIDBITS!  
**

**I know... It sucks... don't shoot me... I did take some libraries... And Its short... And it... it... *CRY*  
**

**The next chapters will be better I PROMISE... AND done by next of week...  
**

**Yes, I know when a car or bus breaks down… there's not THAT much smoke… however it seemed to make for a cute Haruhi/Mori moment… or maybe the idea of Mori (ever the protector) and helpless is slightly appealing to me... But knowing a bus doesn't smoke THAT much let's just pretend that Tamaki REALLY screwed up…**

**Have you noticed that things magically appear in front of peoples noses in this story… It was not planned that way… however… I wish it would happen in real**

** life…**

** imgres?q=bunny+cell+phone+case&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1440&bih=799&tbm=isch&tbnid=7wzW9f11oBhllM:&imgrefurl= seoul/shop/rabito-new-type-cuteness-282956&docid=25UoaqyeqXv3GM&imgurl= . /sites/default/files/imagecache/inline_image_624x3 51/2011/07/29/rabito-case-main_ &w=624&h=351&ei=Ano1UNjTA5DY9QTBtoGIBw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=409&sig=102758061981671303369&page=1&tbnh=149&tbnw=186&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0,i:87&tx=137&ty=54**


	11. Of Parties and Star Gazing

**Authors Note: What can I say to make it better? I'm sorry just doesn't seem like enough. I promise to do better… Does that help?**

**I'M SO SO SO SO SORRY! DON'T HATE ME!**

* * *

**OF ROAD TRIPS AND ROMANCE NOVELS**

**CHAPTER 11:** **Of Parties and** **Star Gazing**

* * *

"Karou… Cut away from yourself, you don't want to lose a finger." Karou re-positioned the carrot that he was attempting to shred.

The second Haruhi stepped back onto the bus, and saw the catastrophe that was taking place, she felt like she needed to take charge. Her first order of business, get Hikaru out of the kitchen... or whatever the equivalent on the bus was…

" We've already had one accident already." She motioned to the couch.

"You know it's not nice to make fun of injured people." Hikaru stated from his spot on the couch where he was currently holding a bandage, way too big for the tiny cut on his finger, with dear life.

"Can you all hurry up? We're running out of daylight!" Kyoya yelled threw the door.

Haruhi rolled her eyes and she stacked the finished lunches up. She had just leaned down to grab several bottles of water when Mori sauntered up behind her and snagged the top three boxes. She watched in awe as he opened the small refrigerator and put them in along with a couple of the now forgotten water bottles. She then watched as he tossed one to Honey who caught it easily and blushed when he leaned against the fridge and took a gulp from his own water bottle. He was watching her reaction, she realized, and that made her blush harder.

"What?" Haruhi's timid one word question made the corners of his mouth turn up.

"Stay." He said simply.

"Stay?" Her mind frantically tried to put two and two together.

It was at that moment that Kyoya stuck his head in the door and grabbed the lunches and water that Mori had placed in a bag while Haruhi was still processing the many definitions of the word "stay".

"We're off."

"Bye you guys! Have fun!" Honey waved as the twins and Kyoya began walking down the deserted highway. Tamaki was screaming something about being separated from his loving daughter as Kyoya drug him by the hood of his jacket.

"See?" Haruhi jumped at the sound of Mori's deep baritone voice at her ear. She still looked dazed and glanced questionably up to her senior.

"Stay."

* * *

_Sato Hyota stared hungrily at the new edition to the "team"._

**_Oshiro Mariko… that's what that irritating Mitsu said her name was…_**

_His eyes started at her petite ankles, accented by the low heel pumps she was wearing, before traveling up her toned legs. They then rounded the curve of her butt, lingered on her flat stomach and settled on the lowest unbuttoned button at her chest. She was modestly dressed; much to his dislike. Winning her over would be a challenge, especially with Katsuo looking over his shoulder._

_Hyota licked his lips like a predator thinking about its next catch._

**_I like a good challenge…_**

* * *

Having been walking for quite a while now, Kyoya was second guessing not staying with, what he considered the only other sane people in the club. He was sure they would have made it to civilization or at least an area with cell phone service by now if it had not been for the morons following him. If he had had to hear the phrase "are we there yet?" or "Mommy so and so is/are picking on me!" again he was sure he would blow a gasket.

At the moment Hikaru and Karou were telling their beloved Tamaki all of the "awful, perverted things" the seniors could be doing to his "poor, innocent little girl".

Tamaki broke away from the devil's spawns and ran up to "Mommy".

"MOMMY, YOU DON'T THINK… NO THEY COULDN'T… I SHOULD HAVE STAYED WITH HER… HOW COULD YOU LEAVE HER WITH THEM!..."

_Oh, that did it…_

"TAMAKI! ENOUGH!"

Kyoya watch the color drain from his hysterical friends face as Tamaki ran to the base of a large tree to grow mushrooms before turning to the two vandals that had set the idiot off to start with.

After taking a very deep breath he had calmed himself so that he spoke with a little less fury but no less cold voice, "Start setting up camp. It's getting too dark to see."

"We're really…" Karou started.

"Spending the night out here?" Hikaru finished with a look of disbelief.

Kyoya just looked at the two and they started to move, however they paused to ask simultaneously, "What about Tamaki?"

The trio turned to look at The King growing mushrooms, shrugged, and walked off to set up camp.

* * *

_Katsuo was lost in thought for at least the hundredth time that night._

_Mitsu looked at his wife who was dressed in a floor length soft pink gown. "Wonder what's got him so distracted tonight?"_

_Mae glanced in the direction her brother was staring. "From what I can tell, it's his lovely new assistant." She elbowed him, effectively snapping him out of his stupor. "Katsuo, Mariko is such a sweetheart don't you think?" Mae had spent most of the evening talking to Mariko about this and that. Finding they had a lot in common, including that her son, Huo, and Mariko's niece, Katumi, went to the same elementary school on the other side of town._

_Katsuo flushed before giving Mae and Mitsu a light shrug._

_Mitsu quickly picked up on what Mae was shooting at. "Mae dear, it's quit chilly tonight don't you think." He pulled her wrap around her shoulders a little tighter giving her a wink._

"_Oh… I hope Mariko isn't too cold. I would hate for her to get sick." Sounding as worried as she could, Mae glanced at her brother who, at mention of his young assistant, had begun to scan the room in vain. "I thought I saw her go onto the veranda."_

_Katsuo took off toward the large glass doors._

* * *

The day, after the others had left, had been quite pleasant. They (Honey) had decided to turn lunch into a picnic. It had been nice relaxing in the sun. Honey had kept up a constant conversation to make up for his companions' quiet natures.

Shortly though, Honey had drifted off to sleep and was carried back to the RV by his ever loyal cousin. After tucking him in on one of the pull out couches, he helped Haruhi wash their dishes from lunch.

It was after the last dish was put up that the two sat across from each other on two of the big leather sofas and in companionable silence picked up books to read.

_I wish I would have brought my novel with me…_

Little did she know that Mori had snuck it out and was reading it behind his history text book.

* * *

_Stars lit up the city as Mariko stared out at the city's skyline. The hotel, that the office party was being held, had beach front property and the ocean breeze caused her to shiver._

_A suit jacket snaked around her arms making her jump._

_"Oh…" she said out of breath, "Linn-Sama. I didn't hear you come out."_

_"Sorry." His customary short answers didn't bother her anymore. It just made it more special to her when he did speak._

_They stood on the veranda in a comfortable silence as they stared out over the city, the stars sparkling above their heads._

_"Your sister is quite lovely. I would love to meet up with her again sometime." Mariko's words were soft and they wrapped around Katsuo as if they floated on the sea breeze._

_"She likes you. So does Mitsu." He whispered as he drew closer to her, hoping his broad body maybe would give her some warmth._

**_And so do I…_**

_She looked so small draped in his large coat, small and vulnerable. She shivered again. Katsuo snaked his arm around the small of her back, holding her to the side of his body. It was then he realized just how far he had fallen for this petite young woman. _

_They stood there gazing at the stars._

* * *

"Checkmate… I think…"

Haruhi had just won her eighth game of chess against Honey; which was funny because she had never played before tonight. It was adding fuel to her theory that her little senpai was letting her win. It was actually a team effort. At first Haruhi thought it was just a coincidence before realizing that her silent companion was giving her silent advice through their games. She would be concentrate on the board; her hand lingering over the piece she thought would be good to move when suddenly Mori would distract her. He shifted, coughed, and even loudly turned the pages of his book. He was so distracting, which he always was to her that she lost which piece she was going to move. He was only quiet when she reached the correct piece.

Honey just smiled at his cousins antics thinking how sweet it would be for them to just admit their feelings to each other.

"I can't believe you've never played before Haru-Chan! You're really good! I bet you could even beat Takashi!"

The two turned toward their silent companion, who had dropped his eyes back to his "History Book". It was just something about her. Maybe it was the way her cute little nose scrunched up or the way she tilted her head as she contemplated her next move that made her so utterly captivating.

Honey yawned convincingly and walked around the little table to crawl into Haruhi's lap and she rocked him back and forth until he was sound asleep.

Mori leaned over and picked the little blonde up and settled him back on the couch.

"I'll grab a blanket." Haruhi said as she went in search of one in the small closet to the left of the bathroom.

When she returned she tucked the lightly snoring Honey in and turned to find Mori missing from the RV.

"Where did he go?" She mumbled disappointedly to herself.

She smiled when she spotted a well know figure sitting outside the bus.

* * *

Mori gazed up through the small clearing of trees; the stars had just started to appear in the darkening sky. He found it quite relaxing among the many sounds of the forest. The crickets chirped in time with some very enthusiastic frogs. He let out a sigh and laid back into the soft grass. It had been a very nice day. He thought about how warm he'd felt in her presents and how he enjoyed her reactions to various things. Yes, it had been a very nice day.

Like his mind magically called out to her, he watched Haruhi walk off the bus. She glanced around as if looking for something before her eyes landed on him. Sending a smile his way she turned and strode back onto the bus.

Mori sighed disappointed. His heart leaped at the idea that she was looking for him, only for her to turn around and go back in. He sighed and laid back down, closing his eyes and getting lost in the music of the night.

He jumped when he was enveloped in warm blanket.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you Senpai. I just thought you may be cold." Haruhi sat down next to him and held out a cup of coffee, blushing when his fingers grazed hers as he retrieved his cup. She strained to hear the quiet "thank you" that he mumbled before taking a sip and lying back down.

The two sat their quietly, enjoying the night and the company.

Haruhi finished off her coffee and after setting the cup aside, laid back next to Mori; their hands barely touching in the cool grass.

Mori turned his head toward her and took in her beautiful profile staring up at the stars.

"It really is beautiful out." Haruhi whispered, though he could still hear her clearly

_Yes you are…_

"Mori-Senpai, can I ask you something?" She was still staring up at the heavens but sounded nervous.

"Ah."

"Have you ever been in love?" Her voice was softer now and he strained to hear her. His eyes widened at the question.

_Why would she ask that?… Does she think she might be in love?... And who with?..._

Three emotions came over him as he thought about how to answer her: a since of protectiveness, possessiveness, and jealousy. It was then he realized how far he had fallen. His need to protect her, the insane want for her to be his, and the jealousy that came when he thought someone else stole her heart.

She took his silence as offence. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude or anything."

She started to get up until a hand grabbed hers and she sat back down.

"No. I've never been in love."

She looked up into his steal grey eyes.

"Oh."

She almost looked disappointed and his heart swelled with affection.

"I'm falling."

He looked at her with such affection then that she knew she loved him, even if he would never love her back.

They laid there in the grass staring up at the stars, never releasing the other's hand.

* * *

**OK … I'm sorry… I know I'm late… and worse than being late I used a corny romantic line… I'm a sucker for the classics. LOL**

**AGAIN IM SORRY IM SO LATE! DON'T HATE ME! SCHOOL SUCKS THE LIFE RIGHT OUT OF YOU…**

**I would like to present SATO HYOTA one of the villians in the novel... I just thought of something... the novel needs a title... any ideas?**

**PS did anyone catch my Phantom of the Opera reference? It hit me after I typed it… LOL**

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! THEY ALWAYS MAKE MY DAY!**


	12. Of New Friends and Falling

**Authors Note: *shakes head* there is no excuse for my lateness... o_o**

**I'M SO SO SO SO SORRY! DON'T HATE ME!**

**Sorry not to much Haruhi/Mori fluffiness... and it skips around a bit... If its confusing let me know and I will try to fix it. I promise to update faster and within the next few chapters I'll be adding back in the original section from chapter 5... might add a kiss somewhere in there too... let me know what you think! =)**

**Please read and review**

* * *

**OF ROAD TRIPS AND ROMANCE NOVELS**

**CHAPTER 12: Of Long Nights and Coffee Deprived Mornings**

* * *

Mori woke to the sound of light knocking. He rolled over and tried to get back to sleep but whoever was there was at his door was very persistent. After sitting up and stretching was then he realized that he was not at his mansion but on the tour bus.

Shaking his head and rubbing the sleep from his eyes he realized exactly where he was; he was laying on one of the pull out couches next to Haruhi. Mori's cheeks reddened as he remembered what had transpired the night before.

* * *

After spending some time stargazing and enjoying each others company, Mori heard Haruhi yawn for the umpteenth time.

"Haruhi?" Mori asked quietly.

She snuggled farther into the blanket she had originally brought out for Mori. He had given it back to her when he had noticed her shivering earlier.

"Busy..."

_Busy?..._

It was then he realized just how out of it she was and decided to play along and see where her half awake conscious lead her.

"Busy doing what?"

She rolled towards him.

"Looking for foul nights..."

_What? Did she not enjoy her night?..._

He sat up and looked over to her curled up form.

"Foul as in bad or fowl as in birds?"

He smiled as she scrunched up her nose and lulled her head to the side.

"Sorry broke windows..."

Mori stood and went to pick his small sleep talker up.

"Why are the windows broken?"

He settled her down on the already pulled out couch.

"The houses are cute..."

Mori shook his head and went to pull up the covers.

_She's adorable_...

When he tried to retreat to his own couch a small hand grabbed his arm. Mori looked back to see that she was still unconsciously mumbling and leaned down to hear her better. Only one word stuck out.

"Stay..."

Unable to resist the petite young women and not seeing any harm, at the moment anyways, he laid down.

_I'll move before she wakes up..._

* * *

_Mariko hoisted her carry on over her head, and it would have been disastrous if Katsuo had not been right behind her to catch the strawberry bag that was way to big for her to handle._

_"Thank you Linn-Sama." Mariko said with a small bow then took her seat next to the window._

_Katsuo had practically begged her to go with him on a business trip to America to deal with Mr. Eatman. She had been shocked to learn the the enigmatic Mr. Eatman, or Harry as he liked to be called, was a relitivly nice guy. Not to say that he was unkind over the phone with her in Tokyo but to in person he was a kind and gentle elderly man. Maybe a little pushy and set in his ways at times, but overall a wonderful man._

_She could feel her eyes getting heavy._

_"Nap if you like, we have a long flight ahead of us." Katsuo stated as he reclined his chair._

_Mariko followed suit and was soon in dream land_

_Katsuo looked over at his office assistent. He could not have been more proud of her. She had handled Eatman with a practiced ease and he even got her to call him Harry. He had been working with the geezer for ten years, ever since he got into the buisness and he had not even known the elusive "Mr." Eatman HAD a first name._

_He shook his head and smiled. Katsuo then, after making sure Mariko was indeed asleep, placed his chair in the up right position and pulled out his laptop._

* * *

"OOOOOOOOOOOO"

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR"

Tamaki peaked out of his sleeping bag.

"WOOOOOOOOOOO"

A shadow passed by his tent.

"WHOOOWHOOOOO"

Screaming Tamaki jumped out of his tent and ran for Kyoya's.

Kneeling down to the demon lord he started trying to wake the sleeping monster up.

"Pssssst... Kyoya... Kyoya wake up..."

Tamaki whisper yelled while poking Kyoya and glancing back over his shoulder.

"KYOYAAAAA..."

"WHAT!" Kyoya yelled sitting up. He had been having a hard enough time getting to sleep on the ground and not on his silk and linen sheets. Of course Tamaki had found the whole idea of camping quite novel and very commonerish.

"There's something making noise outside my tent."

Kyoya listened and could hear evil snickering.

Rolling his eyes he laid back down and rolled over.

"KYOYA!"

"Good night Tamaki."

Tamaki spent the rest of the night growing mushrooms in Kyoya's tent.

* * *

After what Kyoya had found to be the longest, most uncomfortable, Tamiki ridden night of his life, the four had finally made it to town.

"Look!" Karou screamed, way to close to Kyoya's head for his taste.

"We're saved!" Hikaru yelled, obviously trying to out do his brother in volume.

At seeing a small auto repair shop, Kyoya made a run for it. He made a quick and surprisingly enthusiastic dash to the small building and strait up to lobby door hoping, preying that they had something to fill his sleep and caffeine deprived body. His prayers were answered and after practically pouring the still warm coffee down his throat he noticed the soft sound of giggling behind him.

"Coffee senses tingling this morning sir?"

Kyoya turned, salvaging all of his dignity in the way that only a true shadow king could.

"Sorry miss, but I had to spend the nigh- wait... aren't you..."

With a squeak the young dark haired women ducked behind the counter just before the three stooges arrived.

"Kyoya?"

"Why did you run off like that?"

"Mommy why did you leave me?!"

Kyoya glared at them causing the twins to back up slowly and Tamaki to run to the corner. He then turned toward the large oak counter and leaned over to look at the girl crouched behind it.

"As I was saying, you are the girl from the hot springs." It was not a question.

She slowly stood up.

"You're the bus driver!" The twins shouted, causing the girl to flinch. Kyoya lifted an eyebrow at this new information.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Tamaki, instantly cured of fungi grabbed the girl's hand and kissed her knuckles. "What a pretty blush. And what might your name be?"

"H-Hana..." The young lady stuttered.

"Hana I thought I heard... Well good morning gentlemen."

* * *

_It had to have been the worst flight of his life. They had hit a storm about six hours into their flight. When the plane jolted Mariko, if she had not had her seat belt on, would have probably hit her head on the roof. He too was getting nervous at the planes excessive lurching._

_"It'll pass soon." Putting on the brave front for the tiny brunette He had originally meant to just pat her hand in a comforting manner, but when his hand came in contact with his, she grabbed on for dear life. He was not complaining, her hand was small and warm, and though it quivered with fright the simple act of holding her hand and being next to her calmed him. He could only hope holding his hand did the same for her._

* * *

Haruhi woke up with a jolt.

_What in the wor-_

When the whole bus lurched again, she fell off the pull out couch she had slept on the night before with a thump. She stood and shakily made her way to the window and saw a very large tow truck and a older medium height balding man with chains and cables hitching up the bus.

"Haruhi?"

She jumped at the voice and turned toward the door of the bus to see Mori standing there with and out stretched hand. Making her way toward the door, she reached out to take his hand when the bus shook again. The quick movement sent her flying into Mori's solid chest.

Mori had not expected Haruhi to come flying at him and lost his footing and the two ended up sprawled out on the dusty ground. When they had gathered their bearings Haruhi pushed off Mori's chest and froze. When their eyes locked they both began to drown, lost in the pools of the other's eyes. It was as if a magnet began draw them closer when-

"When you two love birds are done making googly eyes at each other, we can get back."

The two snapped apart, brushing invisible dirt off of their clothes and blushing like mad. This caused the man who had spoke to chuckle.

_The tow truck driver..._

Haruhi thought, remembering seeing him earlier from out the window.

"Well come on kids let's get you back to your friends."

They all piled in to the tow truck's surprisingly small cab. Honey perched on Haruhi's lap and talked to Mr. Ito, the tow truck driver, all the way to town, while Haruhi an Mori avoided looking at each other and tried to wash away the red that still dusted both of their cheeks.

* * *

_The storm did finally pass as well as the rest of their fourteen hour plus direct flight from New York to Tokyo, however both Katsuo and Mariko were itching to get off what they had deemed the flying death wagon._

_"It's good to be back on solid ground." Mariko stated as Katsuo helped her retrieve the strawberry suitcase from the over head bin._

_"You know you could really do some damage with this thing." Katsuo joked as he hoisted bag down,"What do you have in here, bricks?"_

_"All of the files YOU said we needed and didn't." Mariko replied with a slight laugh._

_"Never can be too careful." Katsuo let her out into the stream of anxious passengers that were trying to get out of the beast._

_"I told you I had everything under control, packed and ready." Mariko said hottly but with a joking undertone. "But no, you had to go and play secretary."_

_When they finally exited the plane and made it to the lobby to gather the rest of their bags a small figure ran by Katsuo, knocking him off balance and into Mariko and the two ended up sprawled out on the airport floor. Katsuo, who had landed on top, pushed off of the young women quickly so not to crush her. He was shocked to see her laughing. Seeing her smile and laugh caused him to let out a chuckle to._

_"See, you can never be too careful." Katsuo said with a grin._

_"I don't know about you, but I had everything under control until you came barging in." She smiled up at him with big eyes._

_Suddenly they stopped laughing and began to inch toward one another._

_"Ahem."_

_The two looked up to see a tall feisty blonde with a huge grin on his face. The two jumped apart and blushed._

_"What did the two of you get in too over in the big city?"_

_"NOTHING SOUTA." Katsuo blush deepened as he strode by his driver and out the door. Not ever bothering to look back._

_Souta busted out laughing._

_"You obviously didn't do nothing." He smiled over to Mariko who was trying to calm down. "How was it for real? Mr. Eatman give you a run for his money?"_

_"On the contrary, Tanaka-san, Harry was very tolorable." She strode past the sputtering blonde and out the door._

_"HARRY?" Souta jogged to catch up to her. "Hey wait up! The limo isn't going to drive itself!"_

* * *

**OK ... It sucks I know but ya'll deserved SOMETHING!**

**Let me know if anything is confusing or just wrong... criticism is always welcomed as long as it is constructive... Also if you have any ideas or suggestions please send them my way! Might help hurry things along! I'm ashamed to say I'm having the worst writers block recently...**

**If the name at the end was confusing the drivers name is Tanaka Souta (last name first of course). Also if anyone is confused about characters PM me and I'll see what I can do to make it clear or list out the characters and relations.**

**and as always PLEASE REVIEW!_  
_**


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